National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692 Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
Agricultural dust to which farmers carrying threshing operations were mostly exposed. Respiratory diseases associated with agricultural work were one of the first recognized occupational diseases of the lung. It is of three types, respirable dust; hazardous if deposited in gas exchange region of lungs, thoracic dust; hazardous if entered into airways of lungs and inhalable dust; hazardous if deposited in the head airway region and respiratory tree. The present study was conducted to develop an aesthetic dust protective mask, to determine the dust concentration in threshing operation at various distances from the thresher and its comparison with the standard exposure limits. An interviewer-administered survey questionnaire was designed for the investigation of symptoms in the farmers working with threshing operations. The prevalence of watery eyes, expectoration, and headache problems were higher in the farmers working with threshing operations. The dust concentration was measured at different distances (near, 2.5m, 5.0m, and 7.5m respectively) from the thresher. When operating under the open sun in day hours. The average dust concentration for total solid particulates at different locations very near, 2.5m, 5.0m, and 7.5m respectively from the thresher was recorded as 559.41 µg/m3, 1238.34 µg/m3, 2613.91 µg/m3, and 1281.09µg/m3. The dust concentration at the distance of 2.5m varied from 350 µg/m3 to 5085 µg/m3 and it varied from 650 to 3500µg/m3at the distance of 7.5m from the thresher. The average dust concentration values are below the standard exposure limit of 4000 µg/m3 as per ACGIH and OSHA. Aesthetically prepared dust masks were evaluated by threshing farmers against various performance parameters. The dust protectors were subjected to suitability tests of duration of a half-hour each on nine farmers. The towel type mask made with muslin aesthetic filter material was found most suitable and suited best for farmers and is followed by a hood mask made with muslin and mercerized cloth that equally performed well.
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