July 2012 - Iowa Pork Producers Association

usual is kicked up. Endotoxin iscontained in the dust, thus thehigh concentrated exposurescan cause this condition in somepersons. We have measuredproducer exposure whenmoving and loading hogs; theconcentrations of dust andendotoxin can be up to five to 10times higher than backgroundlevels.Another activity where highendotoxin exposures occur isduring power washing inside swinefacilities. We have measured up to30 times higher concentrations ofendotoxin when power washingcompared to background levels.What happens is that when thepressurized water hits the slatsand other surfaces, it blows dustparticles in the air. They becomeincorporated into droplets at thistime. These droplets can contactthe eyes, nose, throat and perhapsinhaled into the respiratorytract. We have not determinedif this exposure can cause healthproblems in producers, but it ispossible. We want to promotesome caution, and suggest usingrespiratory protection whenpower washing until we have moreinformation on this subject.and sorting and moving hogs arecritical tasks when a dust maskshould be used. One model of adisposable respirator that may bebetter to use while power washing isa NIOSH-approved N95 (95%efficient) dust mask that has anintegrated plastic mesh. OneMoldex N95 dust maskexample is the Moldex N95. Theplastic mesh will help to keepthe mask from collapsing onthe face in the wet conditions ofpower washing. Another choiceis a non-disposable half-facedrespirator with dust filters.Power washing and sorting andmoving hogs are essential to swineproduction, and they are not goingto stop. However, the word isprecaution when doing this.Presoaking the building beforepower washing can help as it willdecrease the amount of time andeffort to clean and thus reduceoverall exposure. Although werecommend wearing a dust maskwhen working in swine buildingsgenerally, power washingJULY 201231