Fungi as an Occupational Health Hazard in Seasoned-Food-Industry Workers

Authors: Palmas F.¹; Meloni V.¹

Source: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Volume 48, Number 3, December 1997 , pp. 273-284(12)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

In recent years, the survey of mould spores concentration in working environments, where workers spend many hours, acquired remarkable importance because of the spread of disease caused by fungi. On this basis, the aim of this research was to evaluate the level of environmental fungal pollution in a food industry producing dry sausage and dry-cured ham. We also studied the occurrence of fungal species in the upper respiratory tract of the workers, to compare with species found in the working environment. Our survey has pointed out a considerable fungal pollution in most of the environments sampled, with the presence of the same species found in the upper respiratory tract of the workers. The data obtained in our survey have revealed that the environments sampled can represent a possible health risk factor for workers.

Keywords: fungi; seasoned-food-industry; health risk factor

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Department of Experimental Biology, Chair of Hygiene, University of Cagliari, Italy

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