There is reason to believe that endotoxins and microbial DNA are present in dust exhausted from swine barns. Endotoxins are a pulmonary irritant. When inhaled, endotoxins can cause cough, phlegm, wheezing, fever and in sever cases lead to chronic airway inflammation. To determine the impact of barn aerosols, endotoxin and DNA concentrations must be tested. This study attempted to quantify the amount of airborne endotoxin and DNA downwind from a swine facility. As was hypothesized, results proved that endotoxin and DNA concentrations were high close to the fan outlets, lower concentrations 100m downwind, and no different then the air upwind from the barn.
Total dust and endotoxin concentrations declined significantly at a distance from the barn. It was also found that there was no significant difference between the dust and endotoxin concentrations 600m downwind compared to 2400m upwind of the swine barns. Location did not have a significant effect on DNA concentrations.
It appears that swine facilities have a modest environmental impact downwind from the barns, which may be managed with such controls as landscaping.