Table 4.
Studies related to exposure assessment to rat allergen.
| Study | Environment/Country | Assay | Sampling method | Allergen level | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollander et al. (85) | Laboratory animal facilities, Netherlands | RUA | Air samples (personal) | Median | |
| Sandwich ELISA | Job categories, n = 251 | ||||
| (pAB) | Animal caretaker, n = 90 | 1.6 ng/m3 | |||
| Animal technicians, n = 87 | 0.77 ng/m3 | ||||
| Supervisor, n = 14 | 0.65 ng/m3 | ||||
| Scientists, n = 51 | <LOD | ||||
| Scientific assistant, n = 9 | <LOD | ||||
| Task categories, n = 196 | GM | Range | |||
| Cage emptying, n = 29 | 5.6 ng/m3 | <LOD–1600 ng/m3 | |||
| Changing animals, n = 35 | 5.3 ng/m3 | <LOD–127 ng/m3 | |||
| Feeding animals, n = 20 | 2.4 ng/m3 | <LOD–60 ng/m3 | |||
| Handling animals, n = 34 | 1.2 ng/m3 | <LOD–94 ng/m3 | |||
| Experiments, n = 25 | 0.85 ng/m3 | <LOD–9.0 ng/m3 s | |||
| Biotechnical work, n = 23 | 0.83 ng/m3 | <LOD–34 ng/m3 | |||
| Cage wash, n = 8 | 0.81 ng/m3 | <LOD–4.9 ng/m3 | |||
| Cleaning rooms, n = 15 | 0.80 ng/m3 | <LOD–14 ng/m3 | |||
| Lieutier-Colas et al. (96) | Laboratory animal facilities, France | Rat n 1 | Air samples | Range of GM | |
| Sandwich ELISA | 12 Facilities (personal), n = 113 | 0.49–48.96 ng/m3 | |||
| (mAB) | 12 Facilities (stationary), n = 128 | 0.43–27.36 ng/m3 | |||
| Room categories (stationary) | AM | ||||
| Rat rooms, n = 65 | 53.1 ng/m3 | ||||
| Experimental rooms, n = 56 | 9.7 ng/m3 | ||||
| Job categories (personal) | AM | ||||
| Animal technicians, n = 27 | 72.3 ng/m3 | ||||
| Laboratory technicians, n = 26 | 21.2 ng/m3 | ||||
| Students, n = 33 | 33.7 ng/m3 | ||||
| Scientist, n = 27 | 24.0 ng/m3 | ||||
| Task categories (personal) | |||||
| Cage cleaning and rat feeding, n = 34 | 91.1 ng/m3 | ||||
| Handling rats, n = 31 | 5.4 ng/m3 | ||||
| Renström et al. (97) | Laboratory animal facility, Sweden | Rat n 1 | Nasal air samplers | Median | IQR |
| Sandwich ELISA | High exposure | ||||
| (mAB) | No mask, n = 11 | 2.6 ng/h | 0.6–5.0 ng/h | ||
| P2-mask, n = 10 | 0.06 ng/h | <LOD–0.7 ng/h | |||
| Low exposure | |||||
| No mask, n = 25 | 0.1 ng/h | <LOD–0.2 ng/h | |||
| P2-mask, n = 10 | <LOD | <LOD– <LOD | |||
| Krop et al. (25) | Homes of laboratory animal workers, Netherlands | RUA | Reservoir dust from mattresses | GM | 95% CI |
| Sandwich ELISA | Laboratory animal workers, n = 15 | 39.3 ng/g | 19.8–78.0 ng/g | ||
| (pAB) | Controls (no contact to animals), n = 15 | 7.6 ng/g | 4.7–12.2 ng/g | ||
| Perry et al. (80) | Homes (inner city), USA | Rat n 1 | Reservoir dust from bed, furniture, floor | Median | Range |
| Sandwich ELISA | Bedroom, n = 602 | <LOD | <LOD–1413 ng/g | ||
| (mAB) | Living room, n = 603 | <LOD | <LOD–3380 ng/g | ||
| Kitchen, n = 556 | <LOD | <LOD–4620 ng/g | |||
RUA, rat urinary allergens; pAB, polyclonal antibodies; AM, arithmetic mean; GM, geometric mean; IQR, interquartile range; CI, confidence interval; LOD, limit of detection.