Occupational exposure to respirable and inhalable dust and its components in a Nicaraguan sugarcane plantation.

Objective: To assess personal exposure to respirable and inhalable dust and its components endotoxin, black carbon and crystalline silica among sugarcane workers in Nicaragua.

Methods: Individual exposures to respirable (measurements=98) and inhalable (measurements=36) dust were collected in January and March 2020, with the month of March generally being hotter and less humid. Respirable dust and its components black carbon and crystalline silica, as well as inhalable dust and its component endotoxin, were personally measured. Linear mixed models were used to identify the determinants of occupational dust exposure considering different job tasks and meteorological conditions.

Results: Respirable dust and black carbon concentrations were higher in March among burned cane cutters compared with the other job groups (respirable dust geometric mean (GM)=1.9 mg m; black carbon GM=13.7 µg m), with considerably lower levels in January (respirable dust GM=0.2 mg m; black carbon GM=3.4 µg m). Almost all respirable crystalline silica measurements were below the limit of detection, except for four measurements, which ranged from 8 µg m³ to 15 µg m³. Seed cutters (GM=3.1 mg m) and weeders (GM=2.5 mg m) had the highest exposure to inhalable dust, while endotoxin concentrations were higher among seed cutters (GM=100 EU m) and burned cane cutters (GM=63 EU m) than the other work groups.

Conclusions: Overall, exposure levels to the assessed agents varied across work groups, with higher levels observed among burned cane and seed cutters.