Airborne biological hazards and dust in fattening pig facilities with and without straw

Against the background of a high prevalence of respiratory diseases among the workers with the housing of fattening pigs as well as conspicuous negative pulmonary results among the fattening pigs it will be necessary to determine within the framework of an interdisciplinary cooperating project the impact of and hazards for humans, animals and the environment wherever it occurred in fattening pig facilities. To achieve this research has been carried out in representative systems of housing fattening pigs especially taking into account organic systems with the use of straw in deep litter or minimal litter systems in comparison to conventional systems, where the straw was used as on occupation material. In correspondence with the current discussion in the field of occupational medicine and the occupational safety and health area the impact through micro organisms and their metabolic products (so-called biological hazards) as well as the effects of dust and harmful gases are central in this research. The objective of this project is on one hand to describe the status quo concerning the level of biological hazards in different housing system for fattening pigs. On the other hand cause–effect relationships and influencing factors on the level and dynamics of the registered parameters should be described.