Organic dust exposure in bakeries: assessment of genotoxic effects

• Main Author: Ladeira, Carina
• Publication Date: 2018
• Other Authors: Ramos, Carina, Viegas, Susana
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/9055
• topic: Occupational health; Occupational exposure; Bakery; Flour dust; Organic dust; Genotoxic effect; Projeto ACT - 005DBB/12

Exposure to organic dust occurs in a range of occupational settings including food industries, such as bakeries and pastry industries. Organic dust consists of particulate matter of microbial, plant or animal origin. Its specific composition depends of the type of setting but can implicate several agents such as viruses, bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria endotoxins, actinomycete, spores from moss, fern or fungi, fungi mycotoxins and glucans, algae or plant cell, enzymes and proteins of plant or animal origin, antibiotics and other products from biotechnological processes, insects and mites (and their fragments and excreta). In bakeries, the flour dust is the main responsible for the organic dust exposure. Flour is a complex organic dust consisting of one or a mixture of several cereal grains (wheat, rye, millet, barley, oats or corn cereal) that have been processed or ground by milling. Moreover, flour may contain a diverse number of contaminants, such as silica, fungi and their metabolites (mycotoxins), bacterial endotoxins, insects, mites, mammalian debris and chemical additives such as pesticides and herbicides. Several studies have already reported respiratory health effects in exposed workers, both in small- and large-scale industries, related to the distinct types of dust generated during the production process. Respiratory system symptoms and diseases induced by occupational dust are influenced by the type of dust, dose, duration of exposure and genetic factors. The aim of this study was to characterize possible genotoxic effects of particulate matter by the measurement of DNA damage by alkaline comet assay in workers from bakeries.