Levels of Bioaerosols in Cattle Sheds and Nearby Farmers' Houses in Korea

In Korea, there is only a limited amount of information currently available on the levels of airborne bacteria and fungi of cattle sheds, although certain portions of people are potentially exposed to these bioaerosols in cattle sheds. Accordingly, the current study measured them inside cattle sheds, inside and outside farmers' houses near the sheds, and/or inside residential houses far away from the sheds during winter, 2004 and summer, 2005. The airborne bacteria and fungi were detected in most samples in the cattle farmers' houses as well as in the cattle sheds. Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Penicillium, which have been associated with adverse health effects, were three most prevalent fungal genera, and they took most of the total fungi (more than 69%). The microbial concentrations measured inside the cattle sheds were comparable to those in other reports. Nevertheless, the present arithmetic and geometric mean (GM) microbial concentrations exceeded the Korean guideline for total airborne bacteria at medical facilities ($800\;CFU\;m^{-3}$), the current GM residential indoor concentrations at houses, and the residential indoor levels reported in other countries. The present findings suggest the need for a strategy to reduce Korean cattle farmers' exposure to these microorganisms. In contrast to the microbes, it is suggested that the cattle shed is not an important microenvironment for $PM_{10}$ exposure. Two characteristics examined in this study (seasonal variation and summer survey period, i.e., temperature and humidity) were all important for the cattle farmers' occupational exposure to airborne microbes. The lack of constancy between highest and lowest concentrations of bioaerosols over the survey period further suggests the necessity of performing a long-term survey to better examine farmer exposure levels and their variability.