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Exposure Levels Of Airborne Fungi, Bacteria, And Antibiotic Resistance Genes In Cotton Farms During Cotton Harvesting And Evaluations Of N95 Respirators Against These Bioaerosols, Atin Adhikari, Pratik Banerjee, Taylor Thornton, Daleniece Higgins, Caleb Adeoye, Sonam Sherpa
Exposure Levels Of Airborne Fungi, Bacteria, And Antibiotic Resistance Genes In Cotton Farms During Cotton Harvesting And Evaluations Of N95 Respirators Against These Bioaerosols, Atin Adhikari, Pratik Banerjee, Taylor Thornton, Daleniece Higgins, Caleb Adeoye, Sonam Sherpa
Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Environmental Health Sciences Faculty Publications
The USA is the third-leading cotton-producing country worldwide and cotton farming is common in the state of Georgia. Cotton harvest can be a significant contributor to airborne microbial exposures to farmers and nearby rural communities. The use of respirators or masks is one of the viable options for reducing organic dust and bioaerosol exposures among farmers. Unfortunately, the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR Part 1910.134) does not apply to agricultural workplaces and the filtration efficiency of N95 respirators was never field-tested against airborne microorganisms and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) during cotton harvesting. This study addressed these two information gaps. …