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Reducing Respiratory Health Risks to Horses and Workers: A Comparison of Two Stall Bedding Materials

SIMPLE SUMMARY: In this study, the effect of wood shavings and peat was examined on stable air quality and health of horses and stable workers. The ammonia level in the boxes in which peat was used as bedding was non-existent or very low. The respiratory symptoms in horses increased regardless of th...

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Autores principales: Saastamoinen, Markku, Särkijärvi, Susanna, Hyyppä, Seppo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4693198/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26479479
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani5040394
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author Saastamoinen, Markku
Särkijärvi, Susanna
Hyyppä, Seppo
author_facet Saastamoinen, Markku
Särkijärvi, Susanna
Hyyppä, Seppo
author_sort Saastamoinen, Markku
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: In this study, the effect of wood shavings and peat was examined on stable air quality and health of horses and stable workers. The ammonia level in the boxes in which peat was used as bedding was non-existent or very low. The respiratory symptoms in horses increased regardless of the bedding material at the beginning of the study. The health status of the horses on peat bedding returned to the initial level in the end of the trial but horses in stalls bedded with wood shavings continued to be symptomatic. The hooves of the horses in stalls with peat bedding had a better moisture content. The results suggest that peat is a better bedding material for horses and people working or visiting horse stables than wood shavings. ABSTRACT: Stable air quality and the choice of bedding material are an important health issue both in horses and people working or visiting horse stables. Risks of impaired respiratory health are those that can especially be avoided by improving air quality in the stable. The choice of bedding material is particularly important in cold climate conditions; where horses are kept most of the day and year indoors throughout their life. This study examined the effect of two bedding materials; wood shavings and peat; on stable air quality and health of horses. Ammonia and dust levels were also measured to assess conditions in the stable. Ammonia was not detected or was at very low levels (<0.25 ppm) in the boxes in which peat was used as bedding; but its concentration was clearly higher (1.5–7.0 ppm) in stalls with wood shavings as bedding. Personal measurements of workers revealed quite high ammonia exposure (5.9 ppm(8h)) in the boxes in which wood shavings were used; but no exposure was observed in stalls bedded with peat. The respiratory symptoms in horses increased regardless of the bedding material at the beginning of the study. The health status of the horses in the peat bedding group returned to the initial level in the end of the trial but horses bedded with wood shavings continued to be symptomatic. The hooves of the horses with peat bedding had a better moisture content than those of the horses bedded with wood shavings. The results suggest that peat is a better bedding material for horses than wood shavings regarding the health of both horses and stable workers.
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spelling pubmed-46931982016-01-07 Reducing Respiratory Health Risks to Horses and Workers: A Comparison of Two Stall Bedding Materials Saastamoinen, Markku Särkijärvi, Susanna Hyyppä, Seppo Animals (Basel) Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: In this study, the effect of wood shavings and peat was examined on stable air quality and health of horses and stable workers. The ammonia level in the boxes in which peat was used as bedding was non-existent or very low. The respiratory symptoms in horses increased regardless of the bedding material at the beginning of the study. The health status of the horses on peat bedding returned to the initial level in the end of the trial but horses in stalls bedded with wood shavings continued to be symptomatic. The hooves of the horses in stalls with peat bedding had a better moisture content. The results suggest that peat is a better bedding material for horses and people working or visiting horse stables than wood shavings. ABSTRACT: Stable air quality and the choice of bedding material are an important health issue both in horses and people working or visiting horse stables. Risks of impaired respiratory health are those that can especially be avoided by improving air quality in the stable. The choice of bedding material is particularly important in cold climate conditions; where horses are kept most of the day and year indoors throughout their life. This study examined the effect of two bedding materials; wood shavings and peat; on stable air quality and health of horses. Ammonia and dust levels were also measured to assess conditions in the stable. Ammonia was not detected or was at very low levels (<0.25 ppm) in the boxes in which peat was used as bedding; but its concentration was clearly higher (1.5–7.0 ppm) in stalls with wood shavings as bedding. Personal measurements of workers revealed quite high ammonia exposure (5.9 ppm(8h)) in the boxes in which wood shavings were used; but no exposure was observed in stalls bedded with peat. The respiratory symptoms in horses increased regardless of the bedding material at the beginning of the study. The health status of the horses in the peat bedding group returned to the initial level in the end of the trial but horses bedded with wood shavings continued to be symptomatic. The hooves of the horses with peat bedding had a better moisture content than those of the horses bedded with wood shavings. The results suggest that peat is a better bedding material for horses than wood shavings regarding the health of both horses and stable workers. MDPI 2015-10-08 /pmc/articles/PMC4693198/ /pubmed/26479479 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani5040394 Text en © 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Saastamoinen, Markku
Särkijärvi, Susanna
Hyyppä, Seppo
Reducing Respiratory Health Risks to Horses and Workers: A Comparison of Two Stall Bedding Materials
title Reducing Respiratory Health Risks to Horses and Workers: A Comparison of Two Stall Bedding Materials
title_full Reducing Respiratory Health Risks to Horses and Workers: A Comparison of Two Stall Bedding Materials
title_fullStr Reducing Respiratory Health Risks to Horses and Workers: A Comparison of Two Stall Bedding Materials
title_full_unstemmed Reducing Respiratory Health Risks to Horses and Workers: A Comparison of Two Stall Bedding Materials
title_short Reducing Respiratory Health Risks to Horses and Workers: A Comparison of Two Stall Bedding Materials
title_sort reducing respiratory health risks to horses and workers: a comparison of two stall bedding materials
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4693198/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26479479
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani5040394
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