title: Airborne endotoxins in a rice production commune in the People's Republic of China.
abstract: Concentrations of total and vertical elutriated airborne dusts were quantified for five work areas within a rice production commune near Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Mean (+/- SE) commune levels of 15.69 +/- 1.91 mg/m3 and 6.00 +/- 1.47 mg/m3 were found for total and vertical elutriated dusts, respectively. Analysis of the airborne dusts for the presence of gram-negative bacterial endotoxins resulted in mean levels of 21.23 +/- 8.63 ng/mg total dust and 14.57 +/- 7.97 ng/mg elutriated dust, with respective airborne concentrations of 492.12 and 100.22 ng endotoxin/m3. These data show that rice production in the People's Republic of China is associated with a dust burden that is contaminated with relatively high levels of endotoxins. The long-term respiratory effects of inhalation of these dusts should be studied.
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004391:Dust / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000032:analysis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D012275:Oryza
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D004731:Endotoxins