Analysis of dust samples from urban and rural occupational environments in Croatia.

This study estimated the exposure to dust mites in various occupational environments in Croatia. In total, 29 occupational dust samples were collected: 10 from urban areas (offices, archive of an insurance company, tobacco, paper-recycling, fish-processing and textile plants, animal unit for experimental rats, winery), nine from rural areas (barley, hay, animal food and flour warehouses, tailor's shops, wood processing plant, swine confinement house, grocer's storeroom), and 10 samples from cabins of five fishing boats (five floor and five bed samples). Mites were microscopically identified, and the levels of Der p 1, Der f 1, and Der 2 allergens measured using the DUSTSCREEN test (Heska AG, Switzerland). Microscopy showed no mites in urban areas. Pyroglyphid mites (D. pteronyssinus) were found in all bed samples from fishing boats. Non-pyroglyphid mites were found in samples taken from barley, hay and animal food warehouses, the swine confinement house, grocer's storeroom, and fishing boats. Pyroglyphid mite allergens were detected in eight of 10 dust samples from the fishing boats. Median levels of Der p 1, Der f 1, and Der 2 in cabin bed samples were 10 microg g(-1), 0.2 microg g(-1), and 3.5 microg g(-1), respectively. Our findings on fishing boats suggests that pyroglyphid mites could be considered work-related allergens for fishermen. The results of this study confirmed non-pyroglyphid mites as occupational risk factors in various rural environments.

[Exposure and allergy to dust mites in general and working environment in Croatia]. / Izlozenost i alergija na prasinske grinje u opcem i radnom okolisu u Hrvatskoj.

This paper gives a review of the most important impacts of exposure to dust mites in general and working environment on human health. The Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health in Zagreb, Croatia, has been investigating the frequency and exposure levels of allergies to pyroglyphid and non-pyroglyphid mites in Croatia for the last 10 years. Investigations were performed in general urban and rural population from the inland and coastal Croatia, and several industrial inland populations occupationally exposed to organic dusts. Mite species and levels of pyroglyphid mites allergens (Der p 1, Der f 1) were established in house dust samples taken from the floors of bedrooms and living rooms and in several industrial dust samples. The frequency of allergies to pyroglyphid mites in general urban population of inland Croatia is about 20%, with significant general indoor exposure to these mites (median value for Der p 1: 0.85 microg/g of dust). General adult population of the coastal region had a significantly higher exposure to pyroglyphid mites (median value for Der p 1: 4.5 microg/g of dust), yet showed a significantly lower frequency of allergies to these mites (about 5%). New studies are necessary to investigate possible genetic and environmental factors involved in the mechanisms which protect coastal population from the development of mite allergy. Acarological and statistical analyses have shown that the high frequency of sensitisation to non-pyroglyphid mites found in the general and working populations of the inland region is not related to environmental exposure to these mites, but to the cross-reactivity between pyroglyphid and non-pyroglyphid mites and to false positive skin reactions in prick testing, particularly to T. putrescentiae. So far, results do not indicate that pyroglyphid mites are occupational allergens in paper-recycling, fish-processing and tobacco-processing.