Table 6.
Airborne concentrations of microorganisms and endotoxin at livestock operations
| Operation | Microbe or agent | Sample location | Concentration1 | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landspreading of cattle and swine waste |
Total culturable bacteria | Upwind 20 to 200 m downwind |
101 cfu·m−3 101 to 103 cfu·m−3 |
Boutin et al., 1988 |
| Cattle, swine, and poultry houses |
Inhalable endotoxin Respirable endotoxin |
Inside houses | 3 to 64,347 EU·m−3 0.1 to 260 EU·m−3 |
Seedorf et al., 1998 |
| Cow and calf houses | Total endotoxin Gram-negative bacteria |
Inside houses | 36 and 761 EU·m−3 0 to 103 cfu·m−3 |
Zucker and Müller, 1998 |
| Swine house | Total endotoxin Respirable endotoxin |
Inside houses | 14 to 818 EU·m−3 0.02 to 1,643 EU·m−3 |
Chang et al., 2001a |
| Swine barn | Total culturable bacteria | Upwind Inside barn 150 m downwind |
101 cfu·m−3 103 cfu·m−3 102 cfu·m−3 |
Green et al., 2006 |
| Cattle, swine, and poultry houses |
Gram-negative bacteria | Inside houses | 100 to 102 cfu·m−3 | Zucker et al., 2000 |
| Open-air swine house | Total culturable bacteria Gram-negative bacteria Total culturable fungi |
Inside house | 103 to 106 cfu·m−3 100 to 103 cfu·m−3 102 to 104 cfu·m−3 |
Chang et al., 2001b |
| Dairy shed | Total cultural fungi | Inside shed | 102 to 103 cfu·m−3 | Adhikari et al., 2004 |
| Broiler shed |
Escherichia coli
Salmonella |
Inside and outside of shed |
102 to 104 cfu·m−3 0.7 to 2.3 MPN·m−3 |
Chinivasagam et al., 2009 |
| Swine shed | Total culturable bacteria E. coli |
Inside shed | 105 cfu·m−3 101 cfu·m−3 |
Chinivasagam and Blackall, 2005 |
| Various animal operations | Inhalable endotoxin | Personal samplers | 2 to 8,120 EU·m−3 | Spaan et al., 2006 |
| Cattle, swine, and poultry houses |
Inhalable endotoxin Respirable endotoxin |
Inside houses | 3 to 21,933 EU·m−3 0.3 to 12,282 EU·m−3 |
Schierl et al., 2007 |
| Duck fattening | Salmonella | Inside unit | 101 to 106 targets·m−3 | Fallschissel et al., 2009 |
| Dairy | Total culturable fungi | Upwind Inside barn 5 to 50 m downwind |
103 cfu·m−3 103 to 105 cfu·m−3 102 to 104 cfu·m−3 |
Matković et al., 2009 |
| Open-lot dairy | Total endotoxin | Upwind 5 m downwind 200 m downwind |
1 to 88 EU·m−3 3 to 849 EU·m−3 2 to 261 EU·m−3 |
Dungan et al., 2010a |
| Open-lot dairy | Total culturable bacteria |
Upwind 5 m downwind 200 m downwind |
103 to 104 cfu·m−3 104 to 107 cfu·m−3 103 to 105 cfu·m |
Dungan et al., 2010b |
1EU = endotoxin units; MPN = most probable number.