Occupational exposures to organic dust in Irish bakeries and a pizzeria restaurant

Project EXPOsE, nº 23222 (02/SAICT/2016)For decades, occupational exposure to flour dust has been linked to a range of respiratory diseases, including occupational asthma, thought to result from exposure to fungi present in the flour. Antifungal resistance is of increasing prevalence in clinical settings, and the role of occupational and environmental exposures, particularly for specific fungal species, is of concern. Occupational exposure to flour dust can occur in a range of occupational settings, however, few studies have focused on restaurant workers. The objective of this study was to measure occupational exposure to the flour and microbial contamination, including azole resistance screening, in two small commercial bakeries and in a pizzeria. Personal full shift inhalable dust measurements were collected from workers and were analyzed for inhalable dust and fungi, bacteria, azole resistance, and mycotoxins. Samples of settled dust were collected, and electrostatic dust cloths (EDC) were deployed and analyzed for microbial contamination, including azole resistance screening, and mycotoxins. Geometric mean exposures of 6.5 mg m-³ were calculated for inhalable dust, however, exposures of up to 18.30 mg m-³ were measured-70% of personal exposure measurements exceeded the occupational exposure limit for flour dust of 1.0 mg m-³. The air and EDC fungal counts were similar to those reported in previous studies for similar occupational environments. The fungi were dominated by Penicillium genera, however Aspergillus genera, including Fumigati and Flavi sections, were observed using culture-based methods, and the Fumigati section was also observed by molecular tools. Both Aspergillus sections were identified on the azole resistance screening. Mycotoxins were also detected in the settled dust samples, dominated by deoxynivalenol (DON). The role of environmental exposure in both the development of antimicrobial resistance and the total mycotoxin body burden is a growing concern; therefore, the presence of azole-resistant fungi and mycotoxin contamination, although low in magnitude, is of concern and warrants further investigation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Detection of dermatophytes in the environment of a podiatry clinic

Podiatry is a healthcare profession that specializes in the management of disorders of the lower limb and foot. Podiatric treatments have the potential to generate substantial concentrations of organic dusts. Occupational exposure to bioaerosols in podiatry clinics has been studied, but it was never accessed in a deeply manner for fungi. The detection of dermatophytes in podiatric clinics is a matter of concern since the environmental presence of these fungi can contribute to spread the infection to podiatry workers and to other patients consulted in the podiatry clinics. The aim of the present study was to characterize the dermatophyte burden during podiatric activities by the use of cultural methods but also molecular methodologies for fungal DNA detection directly from the collected samples.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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Report No: 343: Elucidating levels and pathways of human exposure in Ireland to brominated flame retardants and perfluoroalkyl substances, ELEVATE project highlights video

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been used extensively in applications such as electrical goods, soft furnishings and building insulation foam. The ELEVATE project generated data to facilitate the assessment of human exposure to these chemicals

Report No: 343: Elucidating levels and pathways of human exposure in Ireland to brominated flame retardants and perfluoroalkyl substances, ELEVATE project highlights video

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been used extensively in applications such as electrical goods, soft furnishings and building insulation foam. The ELEVATE project generated data to facilitate the assessment of human exposure to these chemicals.non-peer-reviewe

Human biomonitoring of glyphosate exposures: State-of-the-art and future research challenges

Abstract: Glyphosate continues to attract controversial debate following the International Agency for Research on Cancer carcinogenicity classification in 2015. Despite its ubiquitous presence in our environment, there remains a dearth of data on human exposure to both glyphosate and its main biodegradation product aminomethylphosphonic (AMPA). Herein, we reviewed and compared results from 21 studies that use human biomonitoring (HBM) to measure urinary glyphosate and AMPA. Elucidation of the level and range of exposure was complicated by differences in sampling strategy, analytical methods, and data presentation. Exposure data is required to enable a more robust regulatory risk assessment, and these studies included higher occupational exposures, environmental exposures, and vulnerable groups such as children. There was also considerable uncertainty regarding the absorption and excretion pattern of glyphosate and AMPA in humans. This information is required to back-calculate exposure doses from urinary levels and thus, compared with health-based guidance values. Back-calculations based on animal-derived excretion rates suggested that there were no health concerns in relation to glyphosate exposure (when compared with EFSA acceptable daily intake (ADI)). However, recent human metabolism data has reported as low as a 1% urinary excretion rate of glyphosate. Human exposures extrapolated from urinary glyphosate concentrations found that upper-bound levels may be much closer to the ADI than previously reported.The lead author has received funding from the Irish Research Council and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 713279peer-reviewe

Human biomonitoring of glyphosate exposures: State-of-the-art and future research challenges

Abstract: Glyphosate continues to attract controversial debate following the International Agency for Research on Cancer carcinogenicity classification in 2015. Despite its ubiquitous presence in our environment, there remains a dearth of data on human exposure to both glyphosate and its main biodegradation product aminomethylphosphonic (AMPA). Herein, we reviewed and compared results from 21 studies that use human biomonitoring (HBM) to measure urinary glyphosate and AMPA. Elucidation of the level and range of exposure was complicated by differences in sampling strategy, analytical methods, and data presentation. Exposure data is required to enable a more robust regulatory risk assessment, and these studies included higher occupational exposures, environmental exposures, and vulnerable groups such as children. There was also considerable uncertainty regarding the absorption and excretion pattern of glyphosate and AMPA in humans. This information is required to back-calculate exposure doses from urinary levels and thus, compared with health-based guidance values. Back-calculations based on animal-derived excretion rates suggested that there were no health concerns in relation to glyphosate exposure (when compared with EFSA acceptable daily intake (ADI)). However, recent human metabolism data has reported as low as a 1% urinary excretion rate of glyphosate. Human exposures extrapolated from urinary glyphosate concentrations found that upper-bound levels may be much closer to the ADI than previously reported.The lead author has received funding from the Irish Research Council and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 71327

Characterising glyphosate exposures among amenity horticulturists using multiple spot urine samples

Background Glyphosate has recently received much public attention following its Group 2A probably carcinogenic to humans classification from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Despite the widespread use of glyphosate, there is limited data on potential exposures during common occupational uses. Objective The study aimed to characterise occupational exposures to glyphosate among amenity horticulturists through the collection and analysis of urine samples following pesticide application. The impact of work practices on personal exposure, as well as suitability of collecting multiple spot urine samples as a sampling strategy for the assessment of occupational exposure for glyphosate were also examined. Methods A minimum of three spot urine samples were collected per work task; before the work task began, after the work task completion and the following first morning void. All samples were analysed separately for glyphosate using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and for creatinine. Differences in urinary glyphosate concentrations between the pre-task samples versus the post-task and the peak urinary samples were both analysed using paired Student t-tests. Determinants of exposure on glyphosate urine concentrations were evaluated using Pearson's correlation coefficients and linear regression. A multivariate mixed effect model were elaborated to compare the glyphosate concentrations between post-task and following first morning void samples. In these models, worker identity was entered as a random effect to account for the presence of correlations between repeated measurements from the same individuals. Results Peak urine glyphosate concentrations measured for work tasks were 2.5, 1.9, 1.9 and 7.4 μg L−1 (arithmetic mean, geometric mean, median and maximum value, respectively). Concentrations were highest in samples taken up to 3 h after completing the work task. Regression analysis showed that workers who sprayed the day before the sampling task had higher glyphosate concentrations in pre-task samples than those who did not spray the day before (p The authors would like to acknowledge the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) of Ireland and the Colt Foundation UK for funding this project. We would also like to thank all the horticultural workers who participated in this study and the OPW Health and Safety Unit for their support throughout the project. We would also like to thank Hilary Cowie (IOM) for her helpful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. HSE's contribution to this publication was funded by the Health and Safety Executive of Great Britain. Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.peer-reviewed2019-07-0

Characterising glyphosate exposures among amenity horticulturists using multiple spot urine samples

Background Glyphosate has recently received much public attention following its Group 2A probably carcinogenic to humans classification from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Despite the widespread use of glyphosate, there is limited data on potential exposures during common occupational uses. Objective The study aimed to characterise occupational exposures to glyphosate among amenity horticulturists through the collection and analysis of urine samples following pesticide application. The impact of work practices on personal exposure, as well as suitability of collecting multiple spot urine samples as a sampling strategy for the assessment of occupational exposure for glyphosate were also examined. Methods A minimum of three spot urine samples were collected per work task; before the work task began, after the work task completion and the following first morning void. All samples were analysed separately for glyphosate using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and for creatinine. Differences in urinary glyphosate concentrations between the pre-task samples versus the post-task and the peak urinary samples were both analysed using paired Student t-tests. Determinants of exposure on glyphosate urine concentrations were evaluated using Pearson's correlation coefficients and linear regression. A multivariate mixed effect model were elaborated to compare the glyphosate concentrations between post-task and following first morning void samples. In these models, worker identity was entered as a random effect to account for the presence of correlations between repeated measurements from the same individuals. Results Peak urine glyphosate concentrations measured for work tasks were 2.5, 1.9, 1.9 and 7.4 μg L−1 (arithmetic mean, geometric mean, median and maximum value, respectively). Concentrations were highest in samples taken up to 3 h after completing the work task. Regression analysis showed that workers who sprayed the day before the sampling task had higher glyphosate concentrations in pre-task samples than those who did not spray the day before (p The authors would like to acknowledge the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) of Ireland and the Colt Foundation UK for funding this project. We would also like to thank all the horticultural workers who participated in this study and the OPW Health and Safety Unit for their support throughout the project. We would also like to thank Hilary Cowie (IOM) for her helpful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. HSE's contribution to this publication was funded by the Health and Safety Executive of Great Britain. Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.peer-reviewed2019-07-0