Airborne concentrations of dust and endotoxin in selected U.S. cotton textile mills

Details

• Personal Author:
  Castellan, Robert M. ; Day BT ; Olenchock, Stephen A.
• Description:
  Occupational exposure to cotton dust is associated with acute and chronic respiratory effects. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) for yarn production areas--200 ug/m3 airborne cotton dust collected by the vertical elutriator cotton dust sampler--was established in the 1970's, prior to publication of results of more recent studies which have implicated Gram-negative bacterial endotoxin as a contaminant of cotton dust possibly responsible for adverse respiratory effects following inhalation. The most convincing evidence implicating endotoxin derives from experimental exposure studies in which endotoxin levels and dust levels were not correlated with each other. In order to understand variabilities in airborne levels of endotoxin in commercial mills, and to assess correlations between airborne endotoxin and airborne dust concentrations, the current study evaluated exposures in six selected U.S. textile mills. A total of 794 vertical elutriator dust samples were obtained from three "Western" mills processing cotton grown in California and Arizona region. anq from three "Delta" mills processing cotton grown in the Mississippi River region. At four of these mills, dust samples were obtained from surveys conducted at annual intervals during two consecutive years; at two mills, dust samples were obtained only from surveys conducted during the first of these two years. From mills in each region. at least 20 samples were collected in each of six designated work areas; the remaining 208 samples were aggregated into a miscellaneous category. After gravimetric weighing, these filters were assayed for endotoxin activity in terms of endotoxin units (EU) using a chromogenic modification of the Limulus amebocyte lysate test. All data was log-transformed prior to analysis. By work areas, geometric mean dust levels ranged from 76 ug/m3 in Western spinning areas to 257 ug/m3 in Delta opening areas, and geometric mean endotoxin levels ranged from 6.4 EU/m3 in Western spinning areas to 225.7 EU /m3 in Delta carding areas. In analyses of variance which excluded the miscellaneous category, region, mill-within-region, work area, year, and a mill-year interaction term were all significant (p<0.0001) factors accounting for approximately 75% of total variability in the level of endotoxin contamination in airborne dust (i.e., EU/mg). Region alone accounted for approximately half the total variability. Overall, Spearman's rank correlation between endotoxin and dust concentrations was 0. 72 (n = 794; p<0.0001). However, by work area within each mill, this correlation was as low as 0.15 (n=25; p=0.47) for the spinning area in one of the Delta mills. These results provide information useful for evaluating the adequacy of the gravimetric cotton dust PEL with respect to protecting. cotton textile mill workers from potentially hazardous levels of airborne endotoxin. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Bacteria Dust Endotoxins Environmental Exposure Gossypium Lung Lung Diseases Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Textile Industry

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• Keywords:
  Airborne Dusts Bacterial Dusts Cotton Dust Cotton Industry Dust Exposure Dust Sampling Exposure Levels Gravimetry Hazards Organic Dusts Pulmonary Effects Pulmonary System Pulmonary System Disorders Respiratory System Disorders Risk Factors Sampling Textile Mills Textile Workers

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• ISSN:
  1073-449X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  149
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048576
• Citation:
  Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1994 Apr; 149(Abstract Issue):A400
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
• Supplement:
  Abstract Issue
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:667963176d1caeba435b8cc593b10e5ac72de76d2dc6d770dde9f83cb7c93c14ddfd3299769a41cc8bf67836853390ef9c776ee6345c0dfa37eb71198fd863fc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/203299/cdc_203299_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.39 MB ]