Bioaerosol exposure in the king crab industry in North Norway

Introduction: Commercial fishing of the red king crab in Norway started in 2002 and is increasing in the north where land based factories processing king crab are located. Workers in the seafood industry are commonly exposed to bioaerosols and airway symptoms have been described in previous studies done on crab processing workers.  

Objectives: The main aim of this project is to characterize exposure to bioaerosols among workers in the king crab industry.  Methods: Workers were followed through 4 consecutive days with personal air samplers that collected samples of bioaerosols produced in king crab processing activities. The personal air samples were analyzed for several agents including total proteins, proteolytic enzymes, allergens, endotoxins, NAGase activity and chitin. Several plants were included. Different work tasks within plants were compared to see if there is a difference between the exposures to raw compared to cooked king crab. Specific tasks and processes were also examined to identify which of the processes generates high levels of bioaerosols.  

Results: Results from the air samples collected indicate low levels of total protein and proteolytic enzyme activity. King crab allergens were detected in all samples (n=47, range 0.17-11.29 ng/m3). Relatively low levels of endotoxins were detected in some samples. In a pilot study we detected NAGase activity in some samples (n=8, range 0.49-5.43 pmol/m3).  

Conclusion: Workers are exposed to biologic active agents present in bioaerosols during processing of both raw and cooked king crab.