Lung Disease in Textile Workers

Details

• Journal Article:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Personal Author:
  Christiani, David C.
• Description:
  Outputs: We conducted training sessions for workers, physicians, and public health specialists in Shanghai on research methods and on occupational respiratory disease prevention. Dr. Christiani gave lectures on methods of studying, identifying and controlling occupational lung disease in Nanjing, China as well as in Shanghai, and at the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. Outcomes: Include citations of our work on the subject over a 38 year period. The early decades of this work resulted in a 10-fold reduction of the permissible exposure limit for cotton dust in China, and the endotoxin exposure-response results have been cited in US studies proposing and endotoxin standard. R2P: Is the transfer and translation of knowledge, interventions, and technologies into highly effective prevention practices and products which are adopted into the workplace. This study has had impact on r2p for over 35 years. In addition to lowering the permissible exposure limit, the study has provided scientific basis for improved exhaust ventilation, and the textile industry in China has purchased state of the art exhaust controls for the newer mills from US and European companies. The study has also increased awareness of the importance of organic (vegetable) dust exposures in the workplace (beyond textiles) both in the US and abroad. Significance: Findings from the study to date have improved our understanding of the chronic effects of long-term exposure to cotton dust on workers' respiratory health, particularly the influence of cessation of exposure on the chronic respiratory effects due to long-term exposure to cotton dust and endotoxin. With the advent of improved high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in 2002, as well as validated automated techniques to quantify the degree of emphysema and airways disease present in an individual, this proposal represents an unusual opportunity to settle the issue of whether organic dust such as cotton can cause COPD in non- smokers, and the additive or multiplicative effects of smoking in this well characterized cohort of cotton textile workers. Moreover, our analysis of physiologic and biologic markers in relation to cessation of work will provide insight into the reversibility of the effects of cotton dust and endotoxin on chronic respiratory disease. Future Plans: We will publish a series of papers on the final results on the chronic health effects of long-term exposure to cotton vegetable dust, endotoxin in exposed workers. The final publications were delayed because of the outbreak and lockdowns associated with the COVID19 pandemic. However, we were able to collect the necessary data, and run the planned assays in the later part of the grant cycle and we have all we need to proceed with publications. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Anniversaries And Special Events CDC--history Cohort Studies Dust Endotoxins History, 20th Century History, 21st Century Lung Diseases NIOSH--history Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Textile Industry

  More +
• Keywords:
  Lung disease; Endotoxins; Textiles industry; Cotton dust; Organic dusts; Cohort studies; Longitudinal study; Occupational respiratory disease
• Source:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R01-OH-002421, 2023 Nov; :1-17
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069560
• Email:
  dchris@hsph.harvard.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b901f106636809afa163964a6c01989096e587223dc77b36101e2d47a83940f39fbbb6a14a53a5e6967c2b7e56f1f8df816ba219dabacecac8fe0c07cd76578d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/103612/cdc_103612_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 138.47 KB ]