Browsing by Author "Yasmeen, Roheela"

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    Assessment of respiratory problems in workers associated with intensive poultry facilities in Pakistan
    (Elsevier, 2020-01-07) Yasmeen, Roheela; Ali, Zulfiqar; Tyrrel, Sean F.; Nasir, Zaheer A.
    Background The poultry industry in Pakistan has flourished since the 1960s; however, there are scarce data regarding the impact of occupational exposure on the pulmonary health of farm workers in terms of years working in the industry. The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of poultry environment on the health of occupationally exposed poultry farmers in countries of warm climatic regions, such as Pakistan. This study will also show the effect of exposure to poultry facilities on the health of poultry farmers in the context of low-income countries with a relatively inadequate occupational exposure risk management. Materials and methods The lung function capacity of 79 poultry workers was measured using a spirometer. Along with spirometry, a structured questionnaire was also administrated to obtain information about age, height, weight, smokers/nonsmokers, years of working experience, and pulmonary health of farm workers. The workers who were directly involved in the care and handling of birds in these intensive facilities were considered and divided into four groups based on their years of working experience: Group I (3-10 months), Group II (1-5 years), Group III (6-10 years), and Group IV (more than 11 years). The forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and the FEV1/FVC ratio were considered to identify lung function abnormalities. Statistical analysis was carried out using independent sample t test, Chi-square test, Pearson's correlation, and linear regression. Results Based on the performed spirometry, 68 (86 %) of workers were found normal and healthy, whereas 11 (14 %) had a mild obstruction. Of the 11 workers with mild obstruction, the highest number with respect to the total was in Group IV (more than 11 years of working experience) followed by Group III and Group II. Most of the workers were found healthy, which seems to be because of the healthy survivor effect. For the independent sample t test, a significant difference was noticed between healthy and nonhealthy farmers, whereas Chi-square test showed a significant association with height, drugs, and working experience. Linear regression that was stratified by respiratory symptoms showed for workers with symptoms, regression models for all spirometric parameters (FVC, FEV1, and FEV1/FVC) have better predictive power or R square value than those of workers without symptoms. Conclusion These findings suggest that lung function capacity was directly related to years of working experience. With increasing number of working years, symptoms of various respiratory problems enhanced in the poultry workers. It should be noted that most of the poultry workers were healthy and young, the rationale being that there is a high turnover rate in this profession. The mobility in this job and our finding of 86% of the healthy workers in the present study also proposed healthy worker survivor effect
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    Characterization of metals in feed, litter and air of intensive poultry farming facilities
    (Researchers Links, 2023-12-01) Yasmeen, Roheela; Hafeez, Faheem; Ammara, Umme; Younas, Rubab; Ahmad, Sibtain; Ali, Zulfiqar; Nasir, Zaheer Ahmad
    Poultry industry is progressing worldwide due to cheap sources of proteins and it is also considered as the center of various organic and inorganic emissions. The current study was designed to see the release of different metals from the poultry farms. Air samples both from indoor and outdoor along with the litter and feed samples of ten poultry houses were collected from the outskirts of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Poultry farms were varied in feed and grouped into three categories: Group A (using Feed A), Group B (using Feed B) and Group C (using Feed C). All collected samples were digested with aqua regia and analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS). Fourteen metals were detected and categorized as essential (Calcium (Ca), Potassium (K), Sodium (Na), Phosphorus (P), Magnesium (Mg)), trace (Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn)) and heavy metals (Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Mercury (Hg), Nickel (Ni), Lead (Pb)). In general, the concentration of all essential, trace, and heavy metals was found to be highest in feed followed by litter and air samples. However, Cr, Hg and Pb were higher in litter samples of group A as compared to feed and air. All the samples were statistically analyzed using one way ANOVA. A significant difference of feed was present with litter and air samples within groups (p<0.05) however, no significant differences were recorded among different groups. Overall it was noticed that the concentration of metals in feed samples were reflecting in litter and air. So, there is a need to ensure intervention and management policies in intensive poultry farming facilities to establish standards for metal in feed to reduce their bioaccumulation in the environment.
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    Estimation of particulate matter and gaseous concentrations using low-cost sensors from broiler houses
    (Springer Verlag, 2019-06-27) Yasmeen, Roheela; Nasir, Zaheer A.; Tyrrel, Sean F.
    Particulate and gaseous emissions from intensive poultry facilities are major public and environmental health concern. The present study was aimed at exploratively monitoring particulate matter (PM) and gaseous concentrations in controlled-environment facilities using low-cost sensors in Lahore, Pakistan. The indoors and outdoors of 18 broiler houses, grouped into three categories based on the age of birds: group I (1–20 days), group II (21–30 days) and group III (31–40 days), were examined. Low-cost sensors Dylos 1700 and Aeroqual 500 series with different gas sensor heads were used to monitor PM and different gases such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), respectively. Overall, the mean PM and gaseous concentrations increased with the age and activity of birds as compared with the non-activity time of birds. Statistically significant differences were observed in all measured parameters among the groups. The negative correlation between indoor and outdoor environments for PM and gas concentrations at some broiler houses demonstrates the contribution of additional sources to emissions in outdoor environments. The findings contribute to our knowledge of temporal characteristics of particulate and gaseous concentrations from poultry facilities particularly in Pakistan and generally to the capability of using low-cost sensors to evaluate emissions from such facilities.