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Hazards of Fines and Dust in Grain Bins

You may have seen a number of articles talking about the problems that fines may present in bins of corn from an air flow standpoint. Fines do present a real risk of restricting air flow and may cause spoilage to start which left unchecked could result in quality deterioration. Repeated exposure to fines and grain dust can also present a health risk to people working in and around moving grains.

Coring Bins

Coring bins this year is critical to minimize as much as possible airflow problems through the winter storage months. Farmers that are coring their bins are doing so every 7 to 10 feet of grain fill. Coring removes the highest concentration of fines so they don't pose as much of a problem. Clean this cored material if at all possible or put it into another bin and ship it first. Be careful what you ship. Buyers have limits on the amount of fines that they will allow. Some companies have raised their amount of allowable fines, some as high as 7%. You'd think this is great news. The scary reality is that even with 7% allowable fines, many loads are still being rejected. Farmers with exceptionally high levels of fines in their stored corn should be very nervous. If you haven't cored your bins, consider doing it now. Finding out you have a problem with fines in February will not be any fun. Coring your bins should lessen any problems that may arise.

Grain Dust Can Make You Sick

Grain dust, hay dust and moulds can make you sick. Here are two conditions that can develop after repeated exposure to these materials.

• FARMERS LUNG, GREEN LUNG long term permanent lung scarring caused by moulds, grain dust, hay dust
• ORGANIC DUST TOXICITY SYNDROME, GRAIN FEVER caused by prolonged exposure to organic dusts
• Can result in reduced lung capacity

Size of Particles

Farmers don't like to wear dust masks for a variety of reasons. Some feel masks obscure their vision while others just find them a nuisance. Properly fitting dust masks or respirators prevent fine particles from entering your airway so you can breathe freely for many years to come. Nose hairs only remove the really big pieces. The extremely small particles can be carried deep into the lungs. If there are moulds present, the symptoms can be more severe than just a cough.

The size of dust particles is described in microns. A micron by definition is a millionth of a metre. To put this into perspective, a human hair is approximately 100 microns in diameter. Here is the depth to which some particle sizes can be deposited in the respiratory system.

1. dust can be 0.1 micron to 10 micron in size
2. 10 micron particles can be seen floating in sunlight
   
   -Caught in nasal passages or upper airway
   -Discharged as sputum or swallowed
   -Symptoms - runny nose, watery eyes
3. 4 to 10 micron particles will settle in upper lungs and bronchial area
   -Symptoms - asthma-like conditions, wheezing, laboured breathing and coughin
4. under 4 micron particles carried deep into lungs
   -Symptoms - pneumonia-like, fever, chills, muscle pain, laboured breathing and wheezing

Personal Protective Equipment

There are many different styles and types of particulate masks or respirators available. These can range from disposable masks to half-face masks that have replaceable cartridges. Particulate masks or particulate respirators have both a letter and numeric designation. For particulates associated with grain dust use a mask with an N designation. The numeric value on the mask describes the filtration capacity of the mask. The higher the filtration number, the better the filtration capacity. For working with grain, associated dusts and moulds look for N95 or N99 masks.

• N Stands for non-oil resistant, solid or liquid aerosols not containing oil
• Numeric value is the filtration capacity based on its ability to block particles with a 0.3 micron diameter

Sources for Particulate Respirators

Particulate respirators are available at most safety supply suppliers such as these;

• Acklands Grainger
• Safety Supply
• St. George Company

Check your local yellow pages for a full listing of safety supply companies in your area.

Figure 1. Facemask with cartridges -N95 rated

Figure 2. Particulate Disposable Respirator-N95 rated

Figure 3. Particulate Disposable Respirator-N95 rated

Figure 4. Respirator on the left is o.k. to use - it is rated N95;
Dust mask on the right-DO NOT USE WHEN WORKING WITH GRAIN DUST-NOT N95 RATED