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ACTUAL PROBLEMS OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AT AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES

ACTUAL PROBLEMS OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AT AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES

https://doi.org/10.33573/ujoh2017.04.059

Sterenbogen M. Yu.1 , Tsapko V. G.2, Chudnovets A. Ya.2

ACTUAL PROBLEMS OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AT AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES

1 P. L. Shupik National Medical Academy of Post-Graduate Education, Ukraine, Kiev

2Institute for Occupational Medicine National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev

Full article (PDF), ENG

The aim of the work was to review the studies on biological factors, having been conducted in the following branches of agricultural industry in Ukraine: cattle-breeding enterprises (farms) for cows and pigs, animal feed facilities, production of biofuel from rape and pellets of the agricultural waste (wood and straw). In all facilities there have been determined: concentrations of the dust and microorganisms in the air and species composition of microflora. The dust concentrations in animal farms ranged from 6–218 mg/m3, while in animal feed facilities they ranged from 30–260 mg/m3. The dust concentrations in the facilities, producing biofuel from rape, were in the range of 4,0-28,0 mg/m3, in agricultural waste (wood and straw) – 4,8–16,0 mg/m3. The determined values exceeded the maximal available concentration (MAC) in most cases, which were 4 mg/m3. The concentrations of microorganisms in animal farms were 5,8 • 104–1,9 • 107 cfu/m3 and 4,8 • 104–1,6 • 106 cfu/m3, respectively, while in animal feed facilities they ranged from 2,8 • 104 to 2,9 • 109 cfu/m3 and from 1,9 • 103 to 2,2 • 106 cfu/m3, respectively. The concentrations of microorganisms in the facilities, producing biofuel from rape, were in the range of 1,6 • 103–5,8 • 106 cfu/m3, in agricultural waste (wood and straw – 1,7 • 104–1,8 • 105 cfu/m3). The results of microbiological investigations, conducted in various kinds of agricultural settings, indicate clearly that the airborne biological factors play a primary role among occupational risk factors, which can exert harmful effects on the state of health of the exposed workers. The formation of the harmful biological factor depends on the specificity of the setting, kind of technological operations, degree of mechanization, properties of the processed materials, temperature and humidity, and the concentration of the dust in the air.

Key words: biological factor, agriculture, dust, microorganisms, bacteria, fungi

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