Potential Predictors of Airborne Concentrations of Aflatoxin B1

ABSTRACT A combination of traditional and new supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) methods were used for the analysis of aflatox-in B1 in grain dust collected during field harvesting, grain unloading, bin clean out, and animal feeding operations. Bulk corn samples were also collected for comparison of their aflatoxin B1 with the airborne concentrations. The highest airborne concentration of aflatoxin B1 found in dust collected during harvest and grain unloading were 67 and 92 ng/m3, respectively. Higher levels of aflatoxin B1 were found in the airborne dust samples collected from enclosed animal feeding buildings (421 ng/m3) and during bin clean out (4,849 ng/m3). Aflatoxin B1 up to 5,100 ppb were detected in settled dust collected from enclosed animal feeding buildings. The data demonstrate that farmers and farm workers may be exposed to potentially hazardous concentrations of aflatoxin B1, particularly during grain bin clean out and animal feeding in enclosed buildings.