Reduction of Dust Concentration and Exposure in Pig Buildings by Adding Animal Fat in Feed

• Published in: Journal of agricultural engineering research 1996-02, Vol.63 (2), p.113-120
• Main Authors: Takai, H., Jacobson, L.D., Pedersen, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal productions; Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Terrestrial animal productions; Vertebrates
• ISSN: 0021-8634; 1095-9246
• DOI: 10.1006/jaer.1996.0013

Dust concentrations were reduced by 35–60% in pig buildings, while human dust exposure was lowered by 50–70% by adding 4% animal fat to the feed. However, there is still a large quantity of airborne dust in these buildings and workers should reduce their exposure risk to the high concentrations by wearing a dust mask. Variations exist in dust concentrations for total dust in pig buildings. The respirable dust fraction does not appear to be location-dependent and therefore may be a better indicator for evaluating dust reduction methods. Further studies are needed to find the nature of these variations in total dust concentration, so that a representative measurement can be determined for a pig building. Total dust levels found by a personal sampler were from three to seven times larger than total dust concentrations measured by a stationary sampler. Relationships between values from personal and stationary dust samplers need to be explored for livestock environments, and improved dust measurement criteria established for evaluating dust suppression practices.