Levels of soya aeroallergens during dockside unloading as measured by personal and static sampling / Razine aeroalergena soje za vrijeme iskrcavanja na lučkom doku

Abstract

Soya is an important worldwide agricultural product widely shipped and imported in bulk. It contains a number of recognised allergens and the use of soya products and its dockside unloading have been associated with occupational asthma and community episodes of asthma. Two recognised inhalation soya allergens, soya trypsin inhibitor (STI) and hydrophobic soya protein (HSP), were measured in personal and static air samples collected at a United Kingdom (UK) dock during 3 days of unloading three bulks of processed soya beans and soya pelletised husk. Static samples included task-related and those taken at the workplace perimeter and neighbouring sites. Soluble total protein (STP) and gravimetric dust analyses were also undertaken. While gravimetric dust results in personal air samples were below half of the current UK exposure limit of 10 mg m -3 for grain dust, and generally less than 0.5 mg m -3 for the static samples, airborne concentrations for STI and HSP ranged between 0-3,071 and 11-12,629 ng m -3 , respectively, while the correlation between the two specific allergen measurements was generally good (Rank Spearman coefficient 0.74). The data from this investigation suggest that HSP is a more sensitive indicator of soya exposure than STI, but only for soya husk, while STI may be equipotent in detecting exposure to both hull and bean derived soya products. Both assays appear sensitive techniques for investigating the control of exposure to allergenic soy material. The endotoxin level in the husk bulk was 15-60-fold that found in the two chipped bean bulks.

Quantifying Dustiness, Specific Allergens, and Endotoxin in Bulk Soya Imports

“…Indeed, both EN1 and EN3 tested as some of the dustiest bulks and both EN1 and EN2 with the highest level of aerolyzed allergens. Bulks EN1, EN2, and EN3 were unloaded during an atmospheric monitoring exercise that showed significant levels of both allergens related to occupational activities and also at environmental sites outside the dock yard perimeter [19]. Bulk EN1 showed in the laboratory dustiness test a particularly significant propensity to aerolyse readily extractable allergens, which was not reflected in aerolysation of total protein.…”

“…Complaints of respiratory symptoms associated with one recent soya importation to the UK, together with the published literature about epidemic asthma in a number of harbour cities, had led to a atmospheric monitoring study in the UK port in question [19]. This raised our interest concerning possible differences between different soya bulk consignments in terms of their risk to health.…”

Respiratory Health Risks from Exposure to Dust from Soybean and Its Products

“…has set a suggested health-based exposure limit for airborne endotoxin [17]. Endotoxin has been found to be extractable from soya meal and husk and becomes airborne when handling bulk [18][19][20][21].…”

“…• Airborne Gly m 1 levels were measured by monoclonal sandwich immunoassay, at progressive distances from Ancona's (Italy) port, where soya is unloaded [68]. Allergen concentrations were less than 171 ng m −3 , whereas HSP levels (highly homologous with Gly m 1 [66]) measured by sandwich immunoassay during dockside activities in Barcelona and the UK were considerably higher [19]. Decreases in allergen away from the unloading area in Ancona were detected.…”

“…Baur identified soya trypsin inhibitor (STI) or Gly m T1 as a major allergen, being recognised by IgE antibodies in the sera of 86% of the examined sensitised bakers. This research was one of the drivers for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to develop an immunoassay sensitive enough to detect airborne levels of STI from the use of soya flour and possibly other soya products [18,19].…”