Byssinosis: The Acute Effect on Ventilatory Capacity of Dusts in Cotton Ginneries, Cotton, Sisal, and Jute Mills

Abstract

Studies of ventilatory capacity change in small groups of employees during a shift in a cotton mill and in three cotton ginneries in Uganda, a sisal factory in Kenya, and a jute mill in England, have demonstrated that an effect is produced by the dust in the cotton mill and in a very dusty ginnery but not in two other less dusty ginneries. No significant effect was detected in the sisal factory or in the jute mill despite much higher dust concentrations than in the cotton mill. The dust sampling instruments gave the weight in three sizes: Coarse (>2 mm.), medium (7μ to 2 mm.), and fine (<7μ). The samples were analysed for protein, mineral (ash), and cellulose (by difference). The fine and medium sisal and jute dusts contain less protein than cotton dusts. The physiological changes observed in the employees in the cotton mill indicate the need for general dust measurement and control, even when new carding machinery is installed in a new mill.