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Biomedical subjects

K Husman

Publications and source records attributed to K Husman.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Total concentrations of dust in the air during farm work.

Total concentrations of dust in the air of work environments were measured on 20 Finnish farms during 1980-82. On 8 farms the main line of production was dairy farming, on 5 farms it was pig farming, on 4 farms poultry farming and on 3 farms grain production. Dust was measured by the gravimetric method according to the Finnish standard. Results were compared to the threshold limit value (TLV), which for inorganic dust is 10 mg/m3, and for organic dust 5 mg/m3. Mean concentrations of dust in the breathing zone exceeded the TLV for organic dust in all farm buildings, piggeries and poultry yards with coops having the highest mean concentrations, 12.6 mg/m3 and 12.8 mg/m3, respectively. Mean total concentrations of dust during seed dressing, harrowing, rolling and emptying the grain drier were 31.4, 14.0, 18.2 and 20.0 mg/m3, respectively. During sowing and haymaking, the total concentrations of dust were also high occasionally.

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗
PubMed1987

Airborne moulds and actinomycetes in work environment of farmers.

The aim of this series of studies was to investigate the quality and quantity of farmers' exposure to airborne spores during the handling of hay or grain. In the beginning, the Petri dish method and later a six-stage Andersen sampler were used to collect the samples. The number of spores of mesophilic fungi, thermotolerant fungi, thermophilic actinomycetes and fungi of the Aspergillus glaucus group were determined in order to find possible causative agents of farmer's lung disease. The level of exposure varied from 10(4) cfu/m3 to 10(7) cfu/m3 (cfu = colony forming unit). In hay, fungi of the A. glaucus group usually dominated. In grain the most common moulds were Cladosporium spp. and Penicillium spp. In both hay and grain the most common thermophilic actinomycete was Thermoactinomyces vulgaris; Micropolyspora faeni was found less frequently. Silaging was found to be the best method to prevent moulding of hay. Chemicals added during baling did not satisfactorily prevent moulding of hay. For stored grain, however, the best results were obtained with propionic acid treatment. The quality and quantity of airborne spores found suggests that farm work exposes farmers to a high risk of becoming sensitized, which leads to the development of asthma or farmer's lung. Few of the methods presently available for making or storing hay and grain can satisfactorily prevent moulding. So far, use of personal dust respirators with a type P2 (previously II b) filter seems to be the only way to effectively diminish exposure to spores.

Air Microbiology↗
PubMed1987

Serum precipitins against microbes in mouldy hay with respect to age, sex, atopy, and smoking of farmers.

This study was based on a sample of 3,065 farmers from a larger survey population of 12,056 Finnish farmers. Data were collected in a postal survey conducted by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Serum samples for determination of precipitating antibodies were taken at local health centres. Precipitins were determined by the method of microplate immune diffusion. The antigen panel consisted of mycelial antigens of Micropolyspora faeni, Thermoactinomyces vulgaris, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Aspergillus umbrosus. Precipitins to any one of the four microbes were detected in 8.6% of the sera. The most common causes of positive precipitin tests were Aspergillus umbrosus and Thermoactinomyces vulgaris, which agrees with previous findings reported from Finland. In general, the precipitins were more prevalent among women, which corresponds to local cultural traditions, and in older farmers. The prevalence of precipitins did not differ between non-atopic and atopic (defined as past or present co-existence of atopic dermatitis including infantile eczema and/or hay fever or other allergic rhinitis) subjects. In contrast, the prevalence of precipitins was about 1.5-2 times larger among non-smokers than among smokers, which confirms the findings in previous reports. In future studies on occurrence of precipitins, the data should be controlled with respect to age, sex, and smoking.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Serum precipitins against microbes in mouldy hay with respect to the geographical location of the farm and to the work of farmers.

This study was based on a sample of 3,065 farmers from a larger survey population of 12,056 Finnish farmers. Data were gathered in a postal survey conducted by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Serum precipitins were determined by a microplate method of immune diffusion. The antigen panel consisted of mycelial antigens of Micropolyspora faeni, Thermoactinomyces vulgaris, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Aspergillus umbrosus. Geographical variation in the prevalence of precipitins was statistically significant, evidently due to climatic differences. The more intensive the cattle raising, the more commonly were precipitins found in the sera of farmers. For participation in animal tending (cattle, pigs, or poultry) or in plant cultivation work only, the prevalence of precipitins was largest among farmers who tended cattle or swine. According to earlier studies, serum precipitins to Thermoactinomyces vulgaris are associated with farmer's lung. Precipitins to this microbe were most commonly found in farmers who tended pigs and were also very common in farmers who worked only in plant cultivation. These findings imply that farmer's lung may also develop among pig farmers and grain producers. Precipitins to Thermoactinomyces vulgaris were clearly related to the type of grain drier used on the farm. The study failed to identify detailed tasks in farming associated with large prevalence of precipitins, probably owing to considerable overlap in the exposure encountered in different tasks.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1987

Prevalence of chronic bronchitis in farmers according to smoking and atopic skin sensitization.

Development of chronic bronchitis has been shown to depend strongly on smoking habits. Atopy is known to predispose individuals to the development of asthma. Few studies, however, have dealt with the role of the atopic status of the individual as a predisposing factor for chronic bronchitis. In our previous survey among farmers, we observed that chronic bronchitis occurred more often among atopic than non-atopic subjects. Atopy was defined on the basis of past or present atopic manifestations. The association between atopy and chronic bronchitis was re-examined in a separate study of 169 individuals. Using the skin-prick technique we tested these farmers for atopy. The antigen panel included 36 common and farm-related allergens. Among non-smokers with negative skin tests the prevalence of chronic bronchitis was 5.6%, whereas among farmers with positive skin tests (area of at least one skin test reaction equal to 6 mm2 or larger) the prevalence of chronic bronchitis was 15.1%. When age, sex and smoking habits were accounted for statistically, individuals with positive skin tests suffered from chronic bronchitis twice as frequently as subjects with negative skin tests. The predisposing effects of smoking and atopy were of the same order of magnitude. The results of the clinical study of atopy correspond closely to those of the survey study. In the farming population, individuals with an atopic constitution are predisposed to development of chronic bronchitis.

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗
PubMed1987

Prevalence and incidence of chronic bronchitis and farmer's lung with respect to age, sex, atopy, and smoking.

This study was based on data provided by 9,483 farmers from a larger sample of 12,056 Finnish farmers. The data were collected in two postal surveys, with a 3-year interval between them, conducted by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. About one-third of the whole population were smokers. Among men the prevalence of smoking was 58.6% and among women 10.2%. Among men the prevalence of smokers was larger in older groups, among women the situation was reversed. Based on past or present infantile eczema, atopic dermatitis, or allergic rhinitis, one-third of the subjects were classified as atopic. The prevalence of atopy was essentially the same in all age groups. The prevalence of chronic bronchitis was 8.0%, and the mean annual incidence was 2,017 per 100,000 farmers. Among farmers who tended cattle the prevalence of farmer's lung was 1.7% and the mean annual incidence was 540 per 100,000 similar farmers. Chronic bronchitis was twice as common among atopic as among non-atopic subjects and twice as common among smokers as among non-smokers. Atopy and smoking seemed to have an additive effect on both the prevalence and incidence of chronic bronchitis. The results strongly support the so-called "Dutch hypothesis" about the natural history of chronic bronchitis, according to which chronic bronchitis is closely related to asthma. Farmer's lung was only slightly more common among atopic than among non-atopic subjects and twice as common among non-smokers as among smokers.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Effects of respiratory morbidity on occupational activity among farmers.

Work-related respiratory diseases are common among farmers. Few studies, however, have dealt with the consequences of respiratory diseases for the lives of the afflicted farmers. To estimate the socioeconomic consequences of respiratory diseases in the farming population, we made a cross-sectional study and a follow-up study. In 1979 farmers with farmer's lung were twice as likely as healthy farmers to plan to reduce their farming work or to stop farming completely. Fifteen percent of the farmers who developed chronic bronchitis during a three-year follow-up had decided to reduce farming work, close down the farm or change the line of production on the farm. The respective rate for healthy farmers was 8%. In 1982, after the follow-up study of new cases of respiratory diseases, the rate of giving up occupational activities was twice as great among individuals with farmer's lung or asthma as in the rest of the farming population. Based on this study, we estimated that of the new cases of respiratory diseases, every tenth will stop farming in the near future, owing to one of the respiratory diseases analyzed. In Finland about 300 farmers per 100,000 and a total of about 600 farmers annually reduce their farming work or stop farming due to respiratory diseases.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1987

Prevalence and incidence of chronic bronchitis and farmer's lung with respect to socioeconomic factors.

This study was based on data provided by 9,483 farmers from a larger sample of 12,056 Finnish farmers. The data were gathered in two postal surveys (with a 3-year interval between surveys) conducted by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. When age, sex, atopy, and smoking habits were controlled, neither the family structure nor the level of vocational education significantly affected the occurrence of either chronic bronchitis or farmer's lung. The prevalence of farmer's lung was smallest on farms with the largest area under cultivation; the difference in prevalence between the area categories was statistically significant. An opposite trend, although not statistically significant, was present in the incidence rate of but not in the prevalence of chronic bronchitis. The incidence of farmer's lung was largest (p less than 0.05) on the farms with the most intensive cattle raising. Other chronic diseases occurred more often among farmers with chronic bronchitis or farmer's lung than among farmers without respiratory symptoms. Our results imply that factors associated with farm work may be more involved in the occurrence of chronic bronchitis or farmer's lung among farmers, than the socioeconomic background per se.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Prevalence and incidence of chronic bronchitis and farmer's lung with respect to the geographical location of the farm and to the work of farmers.

Prevalence and incidence of chronic bronchitis and farmer's lung in the Finnish farming population were studied by cross-sectional and follow-up surveys of 12,056 farmers. Occurrence of both these diseases varied greatly according to geographical location of the farm. The incidence of chronic bronchitis (2,687 new cases annually per 100,000 farmers) was twice as large in southwestern as in northern Finland. Chronic bronchitis was more common among farmers in livestock production than among those in grain production. The definition of farmer's lung adopted confined the occurrence of the disease among farmers engaged in animal tending. In livestock production, chronic bronchitis was strongly associated with swine tending, but farmer's lung with both cattle and swine tending. Use of a harvester with a sack loader turned out to be characteristic of the chronic bronchitis cases, and the number of new cases was largest among farmers who used a batch type cell drier. The farmers with grain driers that use unheated air most frequently suffered from farmer's lung. Of all (147) the characteristics of farming occupation analyzed, the methods of grain handling and drying were the most important factors for predisposing farmers to chronic bronchitis and farmer's lung.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Role of environment in the development of chronic bronchitis.

Based on data in the Finnish Twin Registry, which was obtained by postal questionnaire, the prevalence of chronic bronchitis among non-smoking farmers was 3.6% and among a corresponding group of non-farmers (reference subjects) 3.4%. The six-year incidences of chronic bronchitis for these 2 groups were 2.7% and 0.7%, respectively. The difference in incidence between these groups was significant (p less than 0.001). The fact that the incidence among farming subjects was three times the incidence among non-farming subjects indicates that chronic bronchitis is a work-related disease among farmers. This is analogous to previous findings that symptoms compatible with chronic bronchitis occur more often among grain elevator workers than among urban dwellers. The occurrence of chronic bronchitis among both farmers and grain elevator workers probably is associated with exposure to grain dusts.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Allergy to storage mites or cow dander as a cause of rhinitis among Finnish dairy farmers.

The role of storage mites Acarus siro, Lepidoglyphus destructor, and Tyrophagus putrescentiae, compared with that of cow dander, as a cause of allergic rhinitis was studied by nasal challenges in a population of 106 non-smoking dairy farmers. Thirty-six of the subjects were challenged with storage mites alone, each with only one of the three species in consecutive order, 43 with cow dander alone, and 27 with both. Thus mite challenges were performed on 63 farmers and cow dander challenges on 70. Challenges with any one of the storage mite species were positive in 18% and with cow dander in 20% of farmers with allergic rhinitis. All challenges to asymptomatic farmers were negative. Five of the eight positive reactions to storage mites were due to Lepidoglyphus destructor, and three to Tyrophagus putrescentiae. Acarus siro was not responsible for any of the positive reactions. The results indicate that, among dairy farmers, storage mites are as common as cow dander as a cause of allergic occupational rhinitis.

Allergens↗
PubMed1984

Symptoms of vibration syndrome and radiographic findings in the wrists of lumberjacks.

In a cross sectional study 279 lumberjacks exposed to chain saw vibration and a reference group of 178 peat bog workers were examined. The mean ages of the two groups were 34.6 and 33.1 years, respectively. The lumberjacks' mean duration of exposure to vibration was 10.4 years. The study consisted of a questionnaire and a clinical examination, including radiographs of the wrists. The prevalence of reported white finger symptoms was 18% for the lumberjacks and 3% for the referents, whereas that of numbness in the upper extremities was 51% and 22%, respectively. Among lumberjacks the occurrence of white finger symptoms increased significantly with the duration of exposure to vibration but was not associated with age or smoking. The prevalence of the numbing of the upper extremities increased linearly with age in both groups, but it was not associated with duration of exposure after adjustment for age. Among lumberjacks there was a significant association between the numbing symptom and the white finger symptom, but not among the referents. A high prevalence of numbing in the upper extremities among the lumberjacks could be at least partly explained by occupational factors other than vibration--work posture, for example. Radiographically, cysts were found in the wrist bones of 8-9% of both groups. The exposure to chain saw vibration no longer seems to be a determinant in the development of vacuoles in the carpal bones.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Extrinsic allergic alveolitis in the tobacco industry.

A total of 57 subjects who had been exposed to mould dust in the tobacco industry were studied. Their working environment showed exposure to spores of different moulds, and 29 subjects (51%) showed antibodies against one or more of the microbes. Fifteen (26%) had work related respiratory symptoms. Eight (14%) showed slight radiographic pulmonary fibrosis. Spirometry showed a tendency toward restriction and obstruction, especially in small airways. Diffusion capacity was decreased in 18% of the workers. Three clinical cases of typical allergic alveolitis were also found. All this suggests that exposure of spores of different moulds (especially Aspergillus fumigatus) in the manufacture of tobacco products may induce symptoms and signs relating to extrinsic allergic alveolitis.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Occurrence of storage mites in Finnish farming environments.

Qualitative and semi-quantitative microscopic analyses were performed on the mite populations in dust samples collected from the byres and hay and grain storages of 11 farms in Eastern Finland. Storage mites were found in all farms. The mite fauna was more abundant in the byres and hay storages than in the grain storages. The most common species or genera were Acarus siro, Acarus farris, Glycyphagus domesticus, Lepidoglyphus destructor, Cheyletus eruditus, Tydeus spp., and Tarsonemus spp. The results imply that also in northern climates storage mites should be considered as possible causes of allergic disorders among farming populations.

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗
PubMed1982

Car painters' exposure to a mixture of organic solvents. Serum activities of liver enzymes.

The serum activities of liver enzymes of car painters (N = 102) exposed to a mixture of solvents [toluene, xylene, and other constituents; about half the threshold limit value recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) in 1981] were compared with those of age-matched referents (N = 102). The activities of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, ornithine carbamoyl transferase, and gamma glutamyl transferase did not differ between the exposed and the nonexposed groups. Simultaneous neurophysiological and ophthalmological examinations of the same car painters had distinguished subgroups of "solvent-affected" and "non-affected" car painters. The enzyme activities were not higher in the "affected" subgroups than in the "nonaffected" ones. The results suggest that car painters' exposure to organic solvents (at the overall level of half the threshold limit value of the ACGIH) does not increase liver enzyme activities in routine tests.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

A feasibility study of organizing occupational health services for farmers.

In Finland the Occupational Health Care Act of 1979 provides farmers the possibility of purchasing occupational health services. The main objective of the present study is to develop national model for the organization of occupational health services for farmers. The problems of providing and specifying occupational health services for farmers can be described by two parameters. The first is the type of farm production. The occupational health services to be provided are though to depend on the occupational health risks. The risks vary with the type of farm production, which in turn depends on the geographic location of the farm. The second parameter represents the supply of occupational services to be provided by the municipal health center. The supply has been characterized as occupational health inspections of farms, health examinations, and health education. For the optimization of the supply and the demand, the experiment consists of three models to be tested in respect to two matrices of risk. The feasibility of the models in the 2-a experiment will be evaluated by pre- and postexperimental surveys.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1980

Extrinsic allergic alveolitis in a sawmill worker. A case report.

Extrinsic allergic alveolitis, with acute attacks of the disease, developed in a sawmill worker. The diagnosis was based on the history of exposure to moldy wood, on the symptoms and clinical signs, and on physiological and radiographic findings. A microbiological analysis of the ambient air of the patient's work environment showed that the air contained a considerable number of spores, both of fungi and actinomycetes. The most common fungal genus was Aspergillus. Thermoactinomyces vulgaris predominated the actinomycetal flora. The patient's serum contained precipitins to Thermoactinomyces vulgaris and Aspergillus fumigatus. Based on the microbiological and serological data, it was concluded that the causative agent(s) of the disease was either T vulgaris or species of the genus Aspergillus.

Adult↗