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Advances in Respiratory Medicine 2021Cotton dust exposure has been implicated in causing diseases like byssinosis and obstructive airway diseases like COPD and asthma. Long-term exposure to cotton dust...
Cotton dust exposure has been implicated in causing diseases like byssinosis and obstructive airway diseases like COPD and asthma. Long-term exposure to cotton dust causing interstitial lung disease and pulmonary fibrosis has been sparsely reported in the literature. Here, we report a case of an individual with long-term cotton dust exposure who presented with typical symptoms of interstitial lung disease and was managed conservatively.
Topics: Air Pollutants, Occupational; Byssinosis; Dust; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Occupational Exposure; Pulmonary Fibrosis; Respiratory Function Tests; Risk Factors
PubMed: 34269402
DOI: 10.5603/ARM.a2021.0068 -
British Journal of Industrial Medicine Feb 1982A total of 2528 workers in flax mills in Northern Ireland were followed up for 16 years. Follow-up was 97% complete. Deaths were identified and date and cause...
A total of 2528 workers in flax mills in Northern Ireland were followed up for 16 years. Follow-up was 97% complete. Deaths were identified and date and cause ascertained. Expected deaths were calculated on the basis of age and sex specific rates for Northern Ireland. Both male and female workers had fewer deaths than expected, and mortality showed no clear relationship with type of work. There was a small excess in the mortality of the workers who had had byssinosis at the time of the original survey, but there was no evidence that the more severe grades of byssinosis were associated with higher mortality than the less severe grades. Workers who smoke are known to have an increased risk of developing byssinosis, and cigarette smoking may be responsible for most of the excess deaths in the workers with byssinosis.
Topics: Adult; Byssinosis; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Northern Ireland; Occupational Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Smoking; Textile Industry
PubMed: 7066216
DOI: 10.1136/oem.39.1.18 -
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Dec 2003To determine chronic effects of long term exposure to cotton dust and endotoxin on incidence of respiratory symptoms and the effect of cessation of exposure.
AIMS
To determine chronic effects of long term exposure to cotton dust and endotoxin on incidence of respiratory symptoms and the effect of cessation of exposure.
METHODS
Respiratory health in 429 Chinese cotton textile workers (study group) and 449 silk textile workers (control group) was followed prospectively from 1981 to 1996. Byssinosis, chest tightness, and non-specific respiratory symptoms were assessed by means of identical standardised questionnaires at four time points. Exposures to cotton dust and endotoxin were estimated using area samples collected at each survey. Incidence and persistence of symptoms were examined in relation to cumulative exposure and exposure cessation using generalised estimating equations (GEE).
RESULTS
Among cotton workers, the cumulative incidence of byssinosis and chest tightness was 24% and 23%, respectively, and was significantly more common in smokers than in non-smokers. A high proportion of symptoms was found to be intermittent, rather than persistent. Among silk workers, no typical byssinosis was identified; the incidence of chest tightness was 10%. Chronic bronchitis, cough, and dyspnoea were more common and persistent in the cotton group than in the silk group. Significantly lower odds ratios for symptoms were observed in cotton workers who left the cotton mills; risk was also related to years since last worked. Multivariate analysis indicated a trend for higher cumulative exposure to endotoxin in relation to a higher risk for byssinosis.
CONCLUSION
Chronic exposure to cotton dust is related to both work specific and non-specific respiratory symptoms. Byssinosis is more strongly associated with exposure to endotoxin than to dust. Cessation of exposure may improve the respiratory health of cotton textile workers; the improvement appears to increase with time since last exposure.
Topics: Adult; Byssinosis; Case-Control Studies; China; Chronic Disease; Cotton Fiber; Dust; Endotoxins; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Incidence; Insect Proteins; Male; Middle Aged; Occupational Diseases; Occupational Exposure; Odds Ratio; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Sex Distribution; Silk; Smoking; Textile Industry
PubMed: 14634185
DOI: 10.1136/oem.60.12.935 -
Environmental Science and Pollution... Mar 2021Flax industry has an adverse effect on health status of exposed workers especially in developing countries with lack of appropriate safety measures to identify the...
Flax industry has an adverse effect on health status of exposed workers especially in developing countries with lack of appropriate safety measures to identify the health hazards, health disorders among workers in flax and oil company, and to assess the applied safety measures in the factory. A cross sectional study was conducted in Tanta Flax and Oil Company in Egypt. The company includes eight factories which are divided into four departments according to the manufacturing end products. The study was conducted from August 2018 to December 2019 on 353 workers out of 400 workers. An interview questionnaire and clinical medical examination were done to assess the health status of exposed workers. Check list from occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) standards was filled by researcher to check safety measures in work place environment. Respiratory manifestations were detected in 65% of the examined workers in flax manufacturing departments while allergic manifestations were more obvious in formaldehyde factory department. Approximately one quarter of workers complained that personal protective equipment's are not available. Regarding the mask for dust, nearly half (44.5%) of the workers rarely used them, and only 7.1% always use them. Byssinosis was obvious among workers in flax manufacturing and particle board manufacturing department with statistically significant differences between the four departments, in which 36.9% and 24.1% of workers in these two departments suffered from chest tightness, respectively. The safety measures were inadequate in flax manufacturing departments and to somewhat sufficient in formaldehyde factory department. Most of exposed workers had inadequate health status due to lack of standard safety measures. Therefore, periodic medical examination should be done regularly with investigation of pulmonary functions of exposed workers with application of high level of safety measure standards in the work place environment.
Topics: Cross-Sectional Studies; Dust; Egypt; Flax; Humans; Occupational Diseases; Occupational Exposure
PubMed: 33200388
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-11588-0 -
British Journal of Industrial Medicine Jul 1970225-234. An epidemiological study of card and blowroom workers in 14 cotton spinning and two man-made fibre spinning mills in Lancashire has been carried out on a...
225-234. An epidemiological study of card and blowroom workers in 14 cotton spinning and two man-made fibre spinning mills in Lancashire has been carried out on a prospective basis of six-monthly examinations over three years. The number of operatives to be included was decided so as to give a sufficient sample for the statistical assessment of fall in FEV, at the same time allowing for population movement. The examination of each worker included a history, a questionnaire of respiratory symptoms, and a measurement of forced expiratory volume in one second. The results in this paper, which will be followed by others on other aspects of the survey, give the prevalence of both byssinosis and bronchitis, according to the definition given, in the 1 359 cotton workers and 227 man-made fibre workers, seen at least once, and also the dust levels in the mills. Eight of the mills processed coarse and six medium cotton. The total prevalence of byssinosis, as defined, is 26·9%, being higher in coarse than in medium cotton mills, and the occupational groups most affected are strippers and grinders, carders and undercarders, and draw frame tenters. In coarse mills symptoms develop in some men and women within the first four years of exposure, and in medium mills between five and ten years' exposure. Repeat questionnaires in about half the population, two years after the first questionnaire, showed the development of symptoms of chest tightness in an appreciable number not previously affected. The incidence of bronchitis is increased in operatives with symptoms of byssinosis, but is influenced by age and smoking. Total dust levels averaged 3·1 mg/m in coarse miles and 1·2 mg/m in medium mills. The findings indicate that dust control measures, though they have produced considerable improvement, are not now fully effective with present methods of production.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Bronchitis; Byssinosis; Dust; England; Environmental Exposure; Female; Gossypium; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Occupational Diseases; Pneumoconiosis; Prospective Studies; Smoking; Spirometry; Textile Industry; Time Factors
PubMed: 5448120
DOI: 10.1136/oem.27.3.225 -
British Journal of Industrial Medicine Nov 1979Four hundred and eighty-six textile workers in three cotton mills and one wool/synthetic mill were studied for symptoms and functional effects of workroom exposure to...
Four hundred and eighty-six textile workers in three cotton mills and one wool/synthetic mill were studied for symptoms and functional effects of workroom exposure to dust. Byssinosis was found in 5.7% of 386 cotton workers, with an apparent threshold level of 0.5 mg cotton dust/m3 of air. Mean post-shift functional declines were greater in workers exposed to greater than or equal to 0.2 mg/m3. Workers with byssinosis were unequally distributed, however, with respect to job category and mill; and these variables, rather than current dust exposure levels, accounted for the observed distribution of byssinosis prevalence rates. Variation in biological potency of different samples of cotton dust could be responsible for 'mill effect', the residual variation in response rates by mill after controlling for variation due to dust exposure. A number of other potential influencing variables that are likely to be distributed unequally by mill should also be considered. Mill effect should be assessed in large-scale studies of byssinosis, most of which have analysed biological response rates by combining mill and other variables to examine first-order effects of dust dosage. In such analyses, much of the observed variability may be due to factors other than dust dosage.
Topics: Air Pollutants, Occupational; Byssinosis; Dust; Environmental Exposure; Gossypium; Humans; Occupations; Pulmonary Ventilation; Smoking; Textile Industry; United States
PubMed: 508642
DOI: 10.1136/oem.36.4.305 -
British Journal of Industrial Medicine Apr 1971159-163. Measurements of the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV) and the peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) were made in 99 non-smoking female hemp workers...
159-163. Measurements of the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV) and the peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) were made in 99 non-smoking female hemp workers before and after the shift. A significant mean reduction of both FEV and PEF (P<0·01) over the shift was found in workers both with and without byssinosis but the relative reductions of PEF were more pronounced (FEV 15·3%; PEF 20·8%). There was a significant positive correlation (P<0·01) both between absolute FEV and PEF values measured before work (with byssinosis r = 0·605; without byssinosis r = 0·461), and between FEV and PEF changes over the shift (with byssinosis r = 0·725; without byssinosis r = 0·631). There was also a significant correlation between FEV and PEF changes following Alupent inhalation after the shift with more pronounced effects on PEF. The coefficients of variation in FEV and PEF measurements (by the Bernstein type spirometer and the Wright peak flow meter) proved approximately equal.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Airway Resistance; Byssinosis; Environmental Exposure; Female; Humans; Metaproterenol; Middle Aged; Pneumoconiosis; Respiratory System; Spirometry
PubMed: 5572683
DOI: 10.1136/oem.28.2.159 -
British Journal of Industrial Medicine Jan 1960The prevalence of byssinosis was measured in a population of 189 male and 780 female workers employed in three coarse and two fine cotton mills. Ninety-eight per cent....
The prevalence of byssinosis was measured in a population of 189 male and 780 female workers employed in three coarse and two fine cotton mills. Ninety-eight per cent. of the male and 96% of the female population were seen. The workers were graded by their histories as follows: Grade 0—No symptoms of chest tightness or breathlessness on Mondays Grade ½—Occasional chest tightness on Mondays, or mild symptoms such as irritation of the respiratory tract on Mondays Grade 1—Chest tightness and/or breathlessness on Mondays only Grade 2—Chest tightness and/or breathlessness on Mondays and other days The dust concentrations to which the workers were exposed were measured with a dust-sampling instrument based on the hexhlet. Altogether 505 working places were sampled. In the card-rooms of the coarse mills 63% of the men and 48% of the women had symptoms of byssinosis. In the card-rooms of the fine mills the corresponding prevalences were 7% for the men, and 6% for the women. Prevalences were low in the spinning-rooms in the coarse mills. The mean dust concentrations in the different rooms ranged from 90 mg./100 m. in one section of the card-room in a fine mill, to 440 mg./100 m. in one of the card-rooms of the coarse spinning mills. The prevalence of byssinosis in the different rooms was closely related to the overall dustiness (r = 0·93). For the three main constituents of the dust, namely, cellulose, protein, and ash, the prevalence of byssinosis correlated most highly with protein, particularly with the protein in the medium-sized dust particles, approximately 7 microns to 2 mm. The symptoms of byssinosis may be caused by something in the plant débris which affects the respiratory tract above the level of the terminal bronchioles. This is the site where the medium-sized dust deposits. The possible importance of the fine dust is discussed. For routine measurements in industry, it is necessary to have a method of assessing dustiness in which the sampling equipment is simple and assessment rapid. As total dust concentration is relatively easy to measure, and correlates closely with the prevalence of byssinosis, permissible levels of dustiness have been expressed in terms of total dust. On comparing the prevalence of byssinosis among workers with short and long exposures and low and high concentrations (Table 11), it appears that a mill with a concentration of 100 mg./100 m. or less would be reasonably safe, but in dusty card-rooms it seems that such levels are not possible to achieve at present. As it is necessary to adopt a realistic target that can be achieved, it is suggested that dust concentrations in cotton mills should be less than 250 mg./100 m. and that periodic medical examinations should be adopted to protect susceptible workers who can be advised to leave their dusty environment before they are permanently disabled.
Topics: Byssinosis; Humans; Industry; Pneumoconiosis; Textile Industry
PubMed: 14437722
DOI: 10.1136/oem.17.1.1 -
Industrial Health Apr 2003One hundred and sixty-nine and 175 cotton textile workers (CTWs) were enrolled in the first (1991) and second (1996) surveys to investigate the prevalence of byssinosis.... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
One hundred and sixty-nine and 175 cotton textile workers (CTWs) were enrolled in the first (1991) and second (1996) surveys to investigate the prevalence of byssinosis. The synergistic effect of smoking on cotton dust exposure was also evaluated. Although the difference in prevalence of abnormal pulmonary function between the first (38.5%) and second study (38.9%) was not statistically significant, smokers had significantly higher frequency than nonsmokers in both surveys. A significant trend existed between the cotton dust levels and the frequency of abnormal lung function. The significant trend was also noted in both smokers and nonsmokers. The frequency of respiratory symptoms and the prevalence of severe byssinosis in the second survey (14.9% and 12.6%, respectively) were significantly lower than that in the first survey (39.7% and 21.9%, respectively). The reduction of symptoms was due to remodeling of this old cotton mill. The prevalences of respiratory symptoms and byssinosis in smokers being significantly higher than in nonsmokers only found in the first survey, but not found in the second survey. These results indicate that smoking potentiates the effect of cotton dust exposure on respiratory symptoms and byssinosis. The second study reveals high prevalence of byssinosis still existed in Taiwanese cotton mill, although the prevalence was declining. Smoking was found to show an additive effect on cotton dust exposure. Anti-smoking campaign, occupational health program to reduce the dust exposure, and periodical medical examination are measures to prevent from byssinosis.
Topics: Adult; Age Distribution; Air Pollutants, Occupational; Byssinosis; Cotton Fiber; Dust; Environmental Monitoring; Epidemiological Monitoring; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prevalence; Reference Values; Respiratory Function Tests; Sex Distribution; Smoking; Taiwan; Textile Industry; Time Factors
PubMed: 12725471
DOI: 10.2486/indhealth.41.109 -
British Journal of Industrial Medicine Jan 1974(1974). 18-27. A prospective survey of workers in 14 cotton and two man-made fibre spinning mills was carried out. A questionnaire on respiratory symptoms was...
(1974). 18-27. A prospective survey of workers in 14 cotton and two man-made fibre spinning mills was carried out. A questionnaire on respiratory symptoms was completed at the start of the survey by 1 359 cotton workers and 227 workers in man-made fibre mills and again two years later by about half of these workers. Dust measurements were available for 772 women and 234 men cotton workers. The prevalence of bronchitis was found to be unrelated to dust level but for women was related to years of exposure. The change in symptoms of bronchitis was unrelated to dust level or to length of exposure. There was, however, an increased prevalence of bronchitis in the cotton mills when compared with the man-made fibre mills, and also over the two-year period a greater proportion of symptom-free workers developed symptoms and a lower proportion of those with symptoms lost their symptoms in the cotton mills than in the man-made fibre mills. The prevalence of byssinosis was related to smoking habits, the smokers having about 1·4 times as much byssinosis as the non- and ex-smokers after allowing for exposure. Byssinosis was associated with the dust level and years of exposure, more so for the women, and an association between the incidence of new cases over the two years and dust level was also found. After allowing for dust level, years of exposure, and smoking there were still differences between the occupational groups in byssinosis prevalence. Strippers and grinders had the highest prevalence followed by drawframe tenters. Speedframe tenters, card tenters, and comber tenters had similar prevalences and ring spinners the lowest.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Air; Bronchitis; Byssinosis; Dust; Female; Gossypium; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Occupational Diseases; Occupations; Sex Factors; Smoking; Textile Industry; Time Factors
PubMed: 4821407
DOI: 10.1136/oem.31.1.18