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. 2008 Mar;47(2):39-48.

Concentration and emission of airborne contaminants in a laboratory animal facility housing rabbits

Tara G Ooms  1 , James E Artwohl, Lorraine M Conroy, Todd M Schoonover, Jeffrey D Fortman
Affiliations

Concentration and emission of airborne contaminants in a laboratory animal facility housing rabbits

Tara G Ooms et al. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2008 Mar.

Abstract

Characterization of animal housing conditions can determine the frequency of bedding and cage changes, which are not standardized from facility to facility. Rabbits produce noticeable odors, and their excreta can scald and stain cages. Our facility wanted to document measurable airborne contaminants in a laboratory rabbit room in which excreta pans were changed weekly and cages changed biweekly. Contaminants included particulate, endotoxin, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and a rabbit salivary protein as a marker for rabbit allergen. Concentrations were measured daily over a 2-wk period in a laboratory animal facility to determine whether they increased over time and on days considered to be the dirtiest. Except for ammonia, concentrations of all airborne contaminants did not differ between clean and dirty days. Concentrations were lower than occupational health exposure guidelines for all contaminants studied, including ammonia. After measurement of concentration, a model was applied to calculate mean emission factors in this rabbit room. Examples of emission factor utilization to determine airborne contaminant concentration in rabbit rooms under various environmental conditions and housing densities are provided.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Room layout. The anteroom is where staff donned personal protective equipment. The rabbit room is where rabbits were housed. S1 through 4 represent air supply plenums located in the ceiling; E1 through 4 represent air exhaust grilles located on the wall near the ground. The air supply is conditioned outdoor air with no recirculation. S1 and E1 and S2 and E2 are located in open Illinois cubicles. Shaded rectangles in rabbit room represent rabbit racks, each housing 6 rabbits. Air sampling for supply plenums occurred at S4 and for exhaust grilles occurred at E4.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Particulate concentration over time.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Silver-stained protein gel comparing rabbit saliva to dust samples obtained during study. Note rabbit salivary protein at 18 to 21 kDa in both samples. Lane 1, 10 μg bovine serum albumin; lane 4, 1 μg saliva; lane 6, 0.1 μg saliva; lane 8, 100 μg particulate sample 6.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Rabbit salivary protein (RSP) concentration over time.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Endotoxin concentration and emission factors by day of study.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Ammonia concentration and emission factors by day of study.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
CO2 concentration box plot. Box represents the interquartile range (IQR) of measured concentration over the course of a day, whiskers represent +/- 1.5 x IQR. The horizontal line within the box represents the median and the X enclosed with a circle represents the mean for each day of study.
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References

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