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Dust entry

Leaf and wood compost dust

Organic dust generated during handling of leaf and wood compost; NIOSH evidence includes both a human incident context and an animal inhalation model.

Airborne form

dust

The form describes what is suspended in air at the point of exposure. A material can produce more than one form, such as dust during handling and fume during heating.

Health effects

airway obstructionincreased breathing ratelung hyperinflationgranulocyte lung inflammationrespiratory disease concern

Evidence

A NIOSH-indexed animal study found that leaf-and-wood compost dust increased guinea-pig breathing rate, caused airway obstruction and lung hyperinflation, and increased granulocyte counts in lung lavage. The study was motivated by acute respiratory symptoms in a person who had shoveled compost; the reported experimental findings are animal-model evidence, not a direct human disease estimate.

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Abstract · 1
Compost dust caused a 17% increase in breathing rate immediately after exposure. ... The amount of trapped gas was increased by 120% immediately after exposure. ... Compost dust caused a 5.5 fold increase in lavagate granulocyte count immediately after exposure. ... exposure ... induces increases in breathing rate, airway obstruction, granulocyte infiltration.

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