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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Matthew W. Murphy, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, 100 Oakdale Campus, 124 IREH, Iowa City, IA 52242, (319) 530-8506, jrinsky@asph.org

For over fifty years, antibiotics have been added to livestock feed to reduce disease and promote growth. This has been a controversial practice however because overuse of antibiotics leads to resistance in bacteria that may cause disease in humans. The dangers of occupational and environmental exposure to antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant micro-organisms remain largely unknown.

The purpose of this project was to measure the airborne antibiotic exposures in a livestock production facility. Samples were collected in hog facility which included rooms devoted to farrowing and growing operations. The antibiotic tylosin was mixed within the feed in every experimental room, while lincomycin was not currently included in the feed but had been used in the past. Analytical methods were developed in collaboration with the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory to measure concentrations of tylosin and lincomycin in air samples. Inhalable (n=34), respireable (n=37), and high-volume (n=16) dust samples were collected in the facility over a two-month period.

Tylosin concentrations were above the limit of quantitation (LOQ) in 93% of the samples, while lincomycin concentrations were above the LOQ in only 9% of the samples (LOQ=0.04 nanograms). The average tylosin concentrations were 3, 18, and 49 ng/m3 in the respireable, inhalable, and high-volume samples, respectively. No occupational or environmental exposure criteria currently exist for antibiotics in air. The information collected in this study can be used to estimate workers exposures and develop interventions to reduce occupational exposures.

Learning Objectives:

• After viewing the presentation, participants should understand the use of antibiotics in agriculture and recognize the health risks for workers exposed to air-borne antibiotics in the workplace. Participants will be able to identify sampling methods necessary to measure air-borne antibiotic concentrations that can be applied to general public health practice.

Keywords: Antibiotic Resistance,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered