Exposures in an Equestrian Centre to Respirable Dust

Anyone who has spent time in a dry sandy arena while horses work are aware of the large amount of dust that develops and inhaled by observers, equestrians, and horses alike. This is much worse in indoor arenas. I have long felt this is a health hazard and while this abstract does not really add much to what we know it is a good reminder that watering down an arena can help reduce the exposure.
DrO

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Sep 3;16(17).
Occupational Exposures in an Equestrian Centre to Respirable Dust and Respirable Crystalline Silica.
Bulfin K1, Cowie H2, Galea KS3, Connolly A4, Coggins MA5.

Author information:
1. Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies, School of Physics and Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, H91 CF50 Galway, Ireland.
2. Centre for Human Exposure Science, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh EH14 4AP, UK.
3. Centre for Human Exposure Science, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh EH14 4AP, UK.
4. Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies, School of Physics and Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, H91 CF50 Galway, Ireland..
5. Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies, School of Physics and Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, H91 CF50 Galway, Ireland.
Abstract

Sand-based products are regularly used as footing material on indoor equestrian arenas, creating a potential occupational exposure risk for respirable crystalline silica (RCS) for equestrian workers training and exercising horses in these environments. The objective of this study was to evaluate an equestrian worker’s personal RCS and respirable dust (RD) exposure. Sixteen personal full-shift RD measurements were collected from an equestrian worker and analysed for RD, quartz and cristobalite. Geometric mean exposures of 0.12 mg m-3 and 0.02 mg m-3 were calculated for RD and RCS concentrations, respectively. RCS exposures of between 0.01 to 0.09 mg m-3 were measured on days when the indoor arena surface was not watered, compared to lower exposures (