Farmers can avoid developing a debilitating lung illness when they get older by wearing a small neoprene mask, says a respiratory therapist.
Breathing in small amounts of dusty hay or chemical fumes doesn’t seem like much, but over the years it can eat away at lung tissue, Rick Saint told a group of farm women at the Fall Focus conference in Camrose.
“I would like you to encourage your husbands and boyfriends to wear them when they’re working in that environment,” said Saint, who works for Alberta’s East Central Regional Health Authority.
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Lifestyle the cause
“I do see people come to us for treatment of the respiratory system and they come from a farm background,” said Saint.
The inexpensive, flexible neoprene mask is the best mask Saint has found for preventing the condition commonly known as farmer’s lung. While other masks fog up or become brittle in the cold, neoprene masks seem to work well in most conditions.
Farmer’s lung is a term used for lung disease that people get from breathing in harmful levels of chemical or other substances while working on the farm. Mould spores on hay, dust from feed, pesticides, gases from manure or urine can all cause farmer’s lung, he said.
“It doesn’t happen quickly, but over time the lung tissue breaks down.”
When chlorine comes in contact with the moisture in the lungs, it forms a mild acid. Hydrogen sulphide from gas flares creates a mild sulfuric acid when it comes in contact with moisture in the lungs.
Symptoms of farmer’s lung include coughing, shortness of breath, fever, chills and either tightness or pain in the chest.
Saint said health workers are trying to promote prevention of lung problems before the farmers see him for diagnosis and are forced to use a respirator to help them breathe.
