THE MEDICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGIC EFFECTS ON WORKERS OF THE LEVELS OF AIRBORNE THERMOACTINOMYCES SPP SPORES PRESENT IN AUSTRALIAN RAW SUGAR MILLS

The objectives of the study were to determine whether there was a sign ificant risk of members of the work force of raw sugar mills developin g bagassosis. Airborne Thermoactinomyces sacchari spores were measured to determine whether they were sufficient to cause acute bagassosis, and whether there was any evidence of previous exposure to sufficient airborne T.sacchari spores to cause the development of chronic bagasso sis in a ny of the work force. Monitoring of total airborne bacteria s pore concentrations was undertaken in and around two cane sugar mills before, during, and after the 1992 cane processing season. Viable airb orne bacteria counts were also obtained to confirm the presence of The rmoactinomyces sacchari Area or zone samples at various sites around t he mills and personal breathing zone samples from selected workers wer e obtained. The results showed that the total airborne bacteria spore count was lower than similar counts reported in other industries, such as cotton milling and wood chip handling, during normal operations. I t was also found that the airborne counts during specific activities t hat generated higher than usual airborne spore levels were lower than expected from literature reports of handling similar material. Complem entary medical examination of the entire full-time work forces of the two mills was carried out on a number of occasions during 1992. The me dical data showed that no cases of acute bagassosis were detected, and that there was no evidence of the development of chronic bagassosis i n any members of the work forces of either mill. Therefore, there is n o significant risk of workers in the Australian sugar industry develop ing bagassosis.