Affiliation:
1. Department of Technological Equipment of Buildings, Faculty of Engineering, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, 16521 Prague, Czech Republic
Abstract
This research shows the size composition of airborne dust fractions in selected dairy barns down to the smallest particles, including factors that influence this composition. Measurements with a Dust-Track 8530 laser photometer took place in the summer at external temperatures of 29.5 to 36 °C. In barns with straw bedding, the average total dust concentration TDC was 66.98 ± 28.38 μg·m−3 (PM10 60.11 ± 19.93 μg·m−3, PM4 49.48 ± 13.76 μg·m−3, PM2.5 44.78 ± 10.18 μg·m−3, and PM1 38.43 ± 9.29 μg·m−3). In barns without straw bedding, the average TDC was 55.91 ± 36.6 μg·m−3, PM10 33.71 ± 13.86 μg·m−3, PM4 30.69 ± 15.29 μg·m−3, PM2.5 27.02 ± 13.38 μg·m−3, and PM1 22.93 ± 10.48 μg·m−3. The largest TDC of 108.09 ± 32.93 μg·m−3 (PM10 69.80 ± 18.70 μg·m−3, PM4 68.20 ± 18.41 μg·m−3, PM2.5 53.27 ± 14.73 μg·m−3, and PM1 38.46 ± 5.55 μg·m−3) was measured in an old cowshed with stanchion housing for 113 cows, straw bedding, and ventilation through windows. In a modern cowshed for loose housing of 440 lactating cows without straw bedding, with natural ventilation and 24 axial fans, TDC was 53.62 ± 49.52 μg·m−3, PM10 20.91 ± 5.24 μg·m−3, PM4 17.11 ± 3.23 μg·m−3, PM2.5 13.71 ± 0.92 μg·m−3, and PM1 12.69 ± 2.82 μg·m−3. In all investigated barns, a large proportion of airborne dust particles (54.38 ± 20.82% of TDC) consists of the smallest PM1 dust particles (from 12.69 ± 2.82 μg·m−3 to 48.48 ± 1.18 μg·m−3).
Subject
General Veterinary,Animal Science and Zoology
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