A combine is shrouded in a cloud of grain dust while harvesting soybeans in a field in southeast Anderson. Such dust can lead to lung ailments for farmers and those who live in rural areas. Photo by Caleb Amick | The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON — Indiana farmers are expected to harvest 10.6 million acres of corn and soybeans this fall, powering the state’s agri-industry.
But Indiana’s agricultural juggernaut comes at a high cost in health for some Hoosiers — exposure to grain dust.
Inhaling grain dust particles can lead to “silent” and cumulative lung damage, according to Dr. Brent Bagley, assistant professor of clinical medicine for Indiana University School of Medicine.
Exposure happens over a period of years, and people are largely unaware of the damage.
“These things get deep down into your lungs ... and cause inflammation that triggers your immune system to generate a response,” Bagley explained.
“We see those downstream effects cause diseases like occupational asthma or interstitial (potentially scarring) lung disease.”
While grain dust is an occupational hazard for farmers, it can also trigger asthma symptoms in others living nearby.
Bagley and his colleagues are especially concerned about grain dust causing hypersensitivity pneumonitis, also known as “farmer’s lung.”
“It’s a very severe immune reaction to the allergens, dust, that actually can cause scarring in the lungs over a long period of time.”
Such scarring can inhibit intake of oxygen, harming other bodily organs. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis can be deadly if left untreated. Symptoms include a dry cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, fever and muscle aches.
It can be detected through tests such as a C-T scan or a bronchoscopy, where a scope is used to check airways in the lungs.
According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, about 10% of farmers have episodes of something called Organic Dust Toxic Syndrome, “a temporary flu-like illness.”
“Repeated exposure (to grain dust) can cause Farmer’s Lung, an allergic disease caused by mold spores which the body’s immune system cannot counteract and may cause lung damage and result in death,” reads a post on the OSHA website.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Bagely endorses the motto “prevention is worth a pound of cure.” He recommends that anyone working closely with unprocessed grain wear an M-95 mask or something similar. He also recommends using a HEPA — high efficiency particulate air — filter in spaces where grain dust is kicked up.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management regulates the release of dust into the atmosphere. It enforces regulations that require grain elevators to implement mitigation practices.
To suppress grain dust, IDEM recommends applying calcium chloride on grain elevator driveways, using food-grade mineral oil on upright concrete elevators at receiving stations, and covering outside grain storage piles, among other best practices.
CLIMATE IMPACT
Experts say the prevalence of grain dust is worsened by drier weather attributed to climate change.
Drought conditions can result from high-pressure weather systems getting “stuck” in the atmosphere over a geographic area.
This “sticking” effect is caused by warm temperatures slowing down the movement of weather systems that would ordinarily come and go in a shorter span of time.
“Rainwater can’t come through high-pressure systems. You tend to get droughts,” said Gabe Filippelli, professor of Earth Science at Indiana University.
Some farmers might see dry conditions as a potential positive — corn and soybeans could dry more quickly for harvest; however, there’s a downside.
More grain dust. “Not only would the dust be produced from harvesting them, the plants have probably accumulated dust from the soil around them,” Filippelli noted. “It’s sort of doubles up the problem.”
© 2025 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.