What is soybean dust and why is it harmful?

• The International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) said that Keamari mystery gas leakage incident is due to  exposure to soybean dust carrying aeroallergens.

The International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) recently said that the Keamari mystery gas leakage incident, which has claimed the lives of 14 persons to date, was a result of the exposure to soybean dust carrying aeroallergens.

“While we are working on this complex bioanalytical problem, we think this may be due to over exposure to soybean dust,” said the ICBS in a letter written to the Karachi commissioner, regarding the Keamari gas incident. The lab further advised that extreme care be taken while unloading soybean containers.

Now the question arises is what is the soybean dust and why exposure to it has resulted in a number of casualties while hundreds were rushed to hospitals in Karachi.

According to jacionline.org, the source of the aeroallergen of soybean dust is a low molecular mass glycopeptide with a low MM of about 14 kd.7 from the soybean tela. Glycopeptide occurs in all parts of the soybean plant at all stages of growth, but the telae (hulls) and pods are by far the richest source.

The botanical function and significance of this soybean plant component is not known nor is the potential for airborne dispersion of this allergen at other grain-handling sites.

Inhalation of the soybean dust can cause irritated/sore throat, chest tightness, eye irritation and a feeling of being stuffed up and congested all the time. Soybean dust related epidemics have been reported in different parts of the world associated with morbidity and mortality.

A similar case like Karachi occurred in Barcelona, Spain, during the 80s, where a total of 687 people were affected from the incident.

Following the incident, Asthma Collaborative Group of Barcelona designed a monitoring system to record all asthma emergencies on a daily basis, beginning in 1985. The group concluded that unloading of soybeans gave rise to a sudden, massive release of soybean dust that reached the urban area under appropriate meteorologic conditions and caused the outbreaks.

The group also reached the findings that there were several factors causing the outbreak. They concluded that outbreaks occurred on days when weather conditions favored the transportation of dust to the city. They also found out that no epidemics occurred when no soybeans were being unloaded. Soybean dust was released during unloading because of the lack of bag filters in a silo, the study said.

Meanwhile, renowned scientist Dr Atta-ur-Rahman too has attributed the deaths to soybean dust, which contains potentially lethal allergens. He further told Geo News that soybean is one of the eight food items that cause serious, sometimes lethal, allergy. He added that the required safeguards were not there during the unloading process of the consignment at the port. As per reports, soybean allergens in the dust were generated during the unloading of soybeans at the harbor.

On Wednesday, a US ship identified as Hercules, docked at the Karachi port, was removed as its unloading of soybean was leading to air toxicity.