Influence of extreme seasons on airborne pollutant levels in a pig-confinement building

Understanding airborne pollutant levels in a pig-confinement building in seasons with extreme weather (ie, summer and winter) is important for managing air quality, which affects the health of farmers and others in the neighboring environment. The authors evaluated airborne pollutants—total dust, total airborne bacteria, and total airborne gram-negative bacteria—which had higher concentrations in summer than in winter, and concentrations of respirable dust, gaseous pollutants, and total airborne fungi, which were lower in summer than in winter. The authors found significant differences between summer and winter measurements for respirable dust and gaseous pollutants (p <.05). Total dust was positively correlated with bioaerosols and ammonia (p <.05), whereas respirable dust was positively correlated with odor concentration index (p <.05) and hydrogen sulfide (p <.01).