The evaluation of microfungal contamination of dust created during woodworking in furniture factories

Abstract

Background: Microscopic fungi are the biological agent of occupational risk in the woodworking environment. Microbiological and chemical methods were used for determination of their concentration and species composition in dust. Material and Methods: Dust was sampled in 3 factories producing furniture using different materials. The 1st factory (A) processes solid wood, the 2nd (B) -chipboards and the 3rd factory (C) uses both wood and wood composites. The samples were collected in 12 different workstations and locations in each factory. The quantitative content of fungal biomass was determined basing on analysis of ergosterol (ERG). The species composition of fungi was analyzed using the microbiological method basing on culture morphology. Results: The concentration of ergosterol was relatively low and ranged from 0.012 mg/kg to 3.36 mg/kg. The average value of ERG amounted to 1.25 mg/kg in factories A and C and 1.15 mg/kg in factory B. The most frequently isolated fungi in factory A and B were Penicillum and Aspergillus. However, in the factory C, only Trichoderma was isolated. The maximum concentration of fungi in dust collected in factory B was 2377 cfu/g and it is 3 times more than in the dust from factories A and C. Conclusions: Workers of furniture factories may be exposed to airborne fungi associated with the wood dust posing health hazard. The content of these fungi is relatively small (ERG -max: 3.36 mg/kg) but the species, especially genera Penicillum and Aspergillus, found in the dust which were reported as having allergic and toxic properties. Med Pr 2014;65(6): [705][706][707][708][709][710][711][712][713]

Contamination of pine and birch wood dust with microscopic fungi and determination of its sterol contents

“…Samples of approx. 5 g were collected from working surfaces of each of the eight work stations using sterile spatulas as described by Rogoziński et al (13). Samples were collected after the end of three shifts in three replications for each wood type: birch, pine and their mixture, when pine and birch wood was worked simultaneously.…”

“…Among the above-mentioned methods, the analysis of ERG concentration is becoming increasingly the method of choice for testing various types of materials, not only biological. ERG is a good indicator of living and dead fungal contents in plant material (11)(12)(13)(14).…”

Microbial Occupational Exposure Assessments in Sawmills—A Review

“…Table 2 describes the main characteristics from the selected studies. From the selected studies (N = 23), 15 were conducted in the Europe, namely 5 in Norway [29,[36][37][38][39], 4 in Poland [8,[40][41][42], 2 in Switzerland [43,44], 2 in Croatia [45,46], 1 in Finland [47], 1 in Italy [48], and 1 in France [30]. Five studies from Canada [49][50][51][52][53], 1 from Korea [54], and 1 from Iran [55] were also analyzed.…”

“…Five studies from Canada [49][50][51][52][53], 1 from Korea [54], and 1 from Iran [55] were also analyzed. The majority of studies (15 out of 23-65.2%) analyzed environmental samples from small and medium size sawmills [18,28,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]51,52], 2 studies (8.7%) were performed in industrial sawmills [29,39], 2 studies (8.7%) in plywood hardwood processing companies [53], 1 (4.4%) in a manufacturing industry [51], 1 (4.4%) in carpentries [48], 1 (4.4%) in pellet production facilities [42], and 1 (4.4%) in a furniture factory [41]. Airborne dust concentrations were below the threshold limit value.…”

An epidemiological study to evaluate morbidity patterns among wood workers belonging to unorganized sector

“…The enumerated hazards are more severe in small and medium enterprises especially in the unorganised sector where either the attention to labour safety is much down the priority list or the workers involved are often uneducated and unaware of the importance of the personal protective / safety equipment's (PPEs). 6,7 Woodworkers especially from the unorganised sector and freelancers are also vulnerable to high job mobility as they keep changing jobs frequently because of poor employee-employer relationship & in a desire to get better earnings. In addition the monotony at work and the frustration of not achieving a decent standard of living lead to different forms of addictions like tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse contributing to further morbidity.…”