Dustiness of chopped straw as affected by lignosulfonate as a dust suppressant.
Many sources add to the concentration of bioaerosols in livestock buildings, and source control is the number one priority for keeping a low concentration. Straw is a common but dusty bedding material in livestock buildings and the present study is focused on the dustiness of chopped straw (barley) as affected by lignosulfonate (LS) as a dust suppressant. A LS-solution was aerosolized in a spray chamber fitted to an existing bedding chopper to allow the chopped straw to adsorb the LS-solution. The dustiness of straw treated with LS was compared to non-treated straw. As storage conditions may affect dustiness, the study included treated straw kept for 4 weeks in sealed plastic bags. Dustiness of the chopped straw was measured in terms of the potential of the straw to emit bioaerosols in a rotating drum. The LS-treated straw proved low in dustiness compared to the non-treated straw. The dustiness with respect to the mass of dust was reduced by at least a factor of 6, and for fungi and endotoxin the factors of reduction were 4 and 3, respectively. Dustiness of LS-treated straw kept in plastic bags was reduced by a factor of 2 for mass of dust and by a factor of 4 for endotoxin, but dustiness for fungi was increased by a factor of 3. It is concluded that lignosulfonate has potential as a dust suppressant for chopped straw.
Breum
N O
NO
National Institute of Occupational Health, Lerso Parkalle 105, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. nob@ami.dk.
Nielsen
B H
BH
Lyngbye
M
M
Midtgård
U
U
D000336:Aerosols; D000391:Air Microbiology; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000818:Animals; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000032:analysis; D005658:Fungi / Q000254:growth & development; D001467:Hordeum; D006799:Housing, Animal; D008031:Lignin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D008033:Limulus Test; D010865:Pilot Projects
D000336:Aerosols; D004391:Dust; D004731:Endotoxins; C001545:lignosulfuric acid; D008031:Lignin