Livestockbuildings, especially poultry and swine housings, are a serious sourceof particulate mass and dust emissions (organic and inorganic fineparticles suspended in the air). Particulate mass at livestock farmscome from animal fur and skin, straw bedding and feed. Particulate massemissions from agriculture were estimated at 24,450 tons in 2009 (GUS).
Dustand particulate mass content in the air inside livestock buildingsdepends on the animal rearing system, air ventilation and heatingsystems, and the season. Swine farms are estimated to produce theaverage of around 0.15 g/h/LU; poultry farms are believed to generatefrom ca. 0.71 g/ha/LU (battery cages) to around 3.65 g/ha/LU (layinghens in a litter system). A farm of 1.000 sows (350 LU) will generatearound 1.26 kg of particulate mass every 24 h.
Particulatemass contains particles of epidermis, fur, excreta, feed and insects.It can carry fungal spores and pathogenic bacteria (Pseudomonas,Bacillus, Pasterella, Vibrio, Enterobacter, Salmonella, Leptospira, Brucella, Yersinia enterocolitica), protozoa ( Cryptosporidium parvum), dust mite (Acarus siro, Lepidoglyphys destructor, Gopcyphagus domesticus), natural toxins (mitotoxins/fungal toxins, bacterial endotoxins), glucans, odorants, and toxic chemical agents (NH3, H2S, nitrates).
Dustgenerated by fur farms can cause a number of health conditions inhumans and animals in areas surrounding the livestock facilities. Oncontact with skin and mucosa, these factors can cause irritation,itching, inflammatory conditions and allergies; and - followinginhalation - irritation of nasal mucosa, nasal congestion andbronchitis, pneumoconiosis, and the organic toxic dust syndrome relatedto the immune response to long-term exposal to particulate mass.