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This study aimed to examine whether different agricultural work patterns may cause MSDs in different body areas and assess their severity. In previous studies, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) have been recognized as an occupational disease in agricultural workers. However, not all MSDs resulting from agriculture occur in the same body areas or have similar severity. This study conducted a questionnaire survey to inquire about the body areas and severity of MSDs among fruit farmers. A total of 212 valid answers were collected. Subsequently, their main harvesting postures were classified into three groups to examine the differences in MSD occurrence and severity among those groups. The results indicate that the harvesting posture did result in different severities of MSDs in certain body areas. Raising hands above the shoulders caused significantly higher MSD severity in the neck, shoulder, upper back, and elbows despite the same standing posture. Additionally, those who squatted, bent, or kneeled had a significantly higher severity of MSDs in the shoulders compared to those who stood but did not raise their hands above their shoulders. This study confirmed that the different harvesting heights of fruits can affect farmers' posture, leading to differences in the body areas affected by, and severity of, MSDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2006.06.009 Byline: Jeng-Shiow Hsiung (a), Yi-Chin Huang (b), Kung-Cheh Li (b), Shinhao Yang (c) Keywords: Additives; Calcium fluoride sludge; Sludge-melting process; Waterworks sludge Abstract: This work explores the effect of additives on the pouring temperature in a waterworks and industrial calcium fluoride sludge co-melting system. Two kinds of sludge were mixed in various ratios to find a mixing ratio at which the operating temperature for subsequent additive tests was relatively low. Various proportions of either sodium carbonate (Na.sub.2CO.sub.3) or potassium carbonate (K.sub.2CO.sub.3) reagent were added to the mixed-sludge samples to elucidate the consequent changes in pouring temperature. The experimental results revealed that the pouring temperature was lowest when calcium fluoride was mixed with waterworks sludge in a ratio of 4:6 (w/w). Adding sodium carbonate or potassium carbonate reagent to the mixed-sludge samples further reduced the pouring temperature. Increasing the amount of sodium carbonate did not significantly reduce the pouring temperature beyond that observed when 2% was added, suggesting that 2% was the optimal additional percentage of sodium carbonate. In contrast, the pouring temperature was increased when over 2% potassium carbonate was added to the mixed-sludge samples, revealing that the optimal additional percentage of potassium carbonate was also 2%. These findings indicate that both sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate can be used as additives to increase the energy efficiency of the melting process, but sodium carbonate is more operationally convenient. Author Affiliation: (a) Process Engineering, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, ROC (b) Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, 71 Chou-Shan Rd., Taipei, Taiwan 106, ROC (c) Department of Leisure and Recreation Management, Toko University, Chia Yi County, Taiwan, ROC Article History: Received 4 February 2005; Revised 8 June 2006; Accepted 14 June 2006

ABSTRACT Nowadays, the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system has been an important facility for maintaining indoor air quality. However, the primary function of typical HVAC systems is to [...]

ABSTRACT A study of the electrostatic enhancement of collection efficiency of filters pretreated with ionic surfactants has been carried out in controlled conditions with monodisperse aerosols. Cationic surfactant (dimethyl dioctadecylammonium [...]

The main objective of this study is to apply neutral electrolyzed water (NEW) spraying to inactivate bioaerosols. We evaluated the inactivation efficiency of NEW applied to inactivate two airborne bacterialEscherichia coliandBacillus subtilisaerosols inside an environmental-controlled chamber in the study. Generated with electrolyzing 6.15Msodium chloride brine, the NEW with free available chlorine (FAC) concentration 50, 100, and 200 ppm was pumped with an air pressure of 70 kg/cm2through nozzle into the chamber to inactiveE. coliandB. subtilisaerosols precontaminated air (initial counts of 3 × 104colony-forming units [CFU]/m3). Bacterial aerosols were collected and cultured from chamber before and after NEW spray. The air exchange rate (ACH, hr−1) of the chamber was set to simulate fresh air ventilating dilution of indoor environment. First-order concentration decaying coefficients (Ka, min−1) of both bacterial aerosols were measured as an index of NEW inactivation efficiency. The result shows that higher FAC concentration of NEW spray caused better inactivation efficiency. TheKavalues under ACH 1.0 hr−1were 0.537 and 0.598 forE. coliof FAC 50 and 100 ppm spraying, respectively. TheKavalues of FAC 100 ppm and 200 ppm spraying forB. subtiliswere 0.063 and 0.085 under ACH 1.0 hr−1, respectively. The results indicated that NEW spray is likely to be effective in inactivation of bacterial airborne contamination. Moreover, it is observed in the study that the increase of ventilation rate and the use of a larger orifice-size nozzle may facilitate the inactivation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]