Does wood pellet heat reduce ammonia exposures to farmworkers in poultry houses?

PI: Jennifer Richmond-Bryant, NCSU

Abstract
Poultry is the top agricultural industry for North Carolina (NC) and comprises 42% of total NC farm income. Over 40,000 people are employed directly by the poultry industry in NC. Poultry farm workers face occupational hazards, such as exposure to ammonia when working in poultry houses. Recent collaborations between poultry farmers and Carolina Land and Lakes Resource Conservation and Development (CLLRCD) suggest that broiler chickens in houses heated with wood pellets have lower mortality and better growth compared to conventional propane-heated houses at the same farm. Poultry operators and workers have also reported drier air and reduced odors in wood pellet-heated houses versus propane-heated houses. This anecdotal evidence suggests health benefits not only to chickens but poultry farm operators and workers. We propose that there is a mechanistic linkage between wood pellet heat, reduced humidity, and reduced production of ammonia gas. We hypothesize that lower humidity in wood pellet-heated poultry houses results in lower ammonia exposures for poultry farm workers. Reduced ammonia exposure may yield health benefits to poultry workers. This project will develop and implement a quality assurance project plan to quantitatively measure humidity and ammonia
in 12 paired poultry houses (wood pellet versus propane) at 7 poultry farms in Western NC across two broiler chicken production cycles for each house. Utilizing adjacent paired houses is critical to defensibly compare ammonia differences between wood pellet heat (dry heat) and propane heat. An intern will be hired from the Wilkes Community College Applied Animal Science Technology Program and trained by the PIs to conduct ammonia and humidity monitoring with in-kind support from CLLRCD. Project funds will support purchase of continuous and integrated ammonia detectors and humidity detectors. Project data will be compared to published literature to evaluate reduced ammonia exposure to poultry workers. This pilot project will provide quantitative data to support future proposal efforts to evaluate how engineering
controls of the poultry house environment may impact the production of ammonia gas, ammonium aerosol, and other indoor air contaminants that are likely to pose occupational health hazards to poultry operators and workers.