Pulmonary Function Response to Dust from Standard and Closed Boll Harvested Cotton

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boehlecke, Brian A. ; Bragg K ; Cocke J ; Hancock J ; Merchant J ; Petsonk E ; Piccirillo, Richard E.
• Description:
  Although the characteristic feature of byssinosis in workers exposed to cotton dust is the symptom of chest tightness occurring on the first day back to work after an absence, changes in objective measurements of pulmonary function also have been demonstrated. Not all byssinotic patients show objective changes, but as a group they tend to have greater reductions in the FEV1 over the workshift than asymptomatic workers and those not exposed to cotton dust. The prevalence of symptoms and decrements in pulmonary function increase with increasing dust exposure, but even high dust levels may be associated with a low prevalence of byssinosis if the dust is of low "biologic activity." Reduction of the biologic activity of the dust may be important, since extrapolation of dose-response curves suggests that even low levels of dust may be associated with symptoms of byssinosis in some workers. The US Department of Agriculture recently harvested a small quantity of cotton before the opening of the bolls to minimize the amount of contamination of the fiber with other materials. We exposed healthy volunteers to dust generated when this cotton was carded in a model cardroom and measured pulmonary function before and after exposure to determine if closed boll harvested cotton dust produced less biologic reaction than dust from standard harvested cotton. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Byssinosis Dust Gossypium Lung Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Cotton Dust Cotton Fibers Cotton Industry Humans Pulmonary Function Respiratory Function Respiratory Irritants
• ISSN:
  0012-3692
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  ALOSH - Appalachian Laboratory for Occupational Safety and Health
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051732
• Citation:
  Chest 1981 Apr; 79S(4):77S-81S
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Merchant, 944 Chestnut Ridge Road, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1981
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Chest
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b93fcf715b6e2468923c0dfcbe5c3afee3cfce16d4b5ffb4a377bbf0b578d00e6ab93a359bf4b22e458b5d73edb968d88a029cda699e48b3f92220cac685a8d4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211530/cdc_211530_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.10 MB ]