Immunoquantitative measurement of soybean aeroallergen emissions at industrial sites.
BACKGROUND
Asthma attacks and mortality due to inhalation of soybean antigens in Barcelona, Spain have been well documented. A new control scheme was adopted in the city to avoid the emission and dispersion of soybean dust into the atmosphere during unloading. We studied soybean allergen emission during unloading and at 3 industrial sites and compared the results obtained.


METHODS
Over a period of 31 months, 628 paired air samples from 3 plants (A, B, C) involved in soybean manipulation in Barcelona harbor were collected. Samples were analyzed by a radiometric competitive inhibition assay (RCIA) and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A Bland-Altman plot was used to compare the soybean concentrations measured by each assay.


RESULTS
The median values for the 628 samples were 5535 U/m3 (range, 370-18,416,751) for the RCIA and 9955 U/m3 (range, 400-22,349,059) for the ELISA. Plant A had the lowest emission levels and the lowest Spearman rank correlation coefficient (0.409). The correlation coefficients were 0.747 and 0.794 for plants B and C. Soybean aeroallergen concentrations differed by plant. The highest variability in values was seen for plant A, which had the lowest allergen concentrations.


CONCLUSIONS
The competitive assays described are useful tools for the measurement of soybean allergen emission levels at industrial sites. These methods may be used to monitor unloading and the impact of environmental interventions.
Cruz
M J
MJ
Spanish Network of Centers for Biomedical Research on Respiratory Diseases (CibeRes), Spain. mjcruz@ir.vhebron.net
Villalbí
J R
JR
Swanson
M
M
Pintó
J M
JM
Rodrigo
M J
MJ
Morell
F
F
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000485:Allergens / Q000032:analysis*; D001249:Asthma / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D019649:Food Industry; D006801:Humans; D015592:Immunoradiometric Assay; D013025:Glycine max / Q000276:immunology*; D013030:Spain
D000393:Air Pollutants; D000485:Allergens; D004391:Dust