Textiles workers

Higashi T, Toyama T, Sakurai H, et al. 1983. Cross sectional study of respiratory symptoms and pulmonary functions in rayon textile workers with special reference to hydrogen sulfide exposure. Ind Health 21 281-292. 

A generation of millwrights and textile workers trained under Slater was the catalyst for the rapid proliferation of textile mills in the early nineteenth century. From Slater s first mill, the industry spread across New England to places like North Uxbridge, Massachusetts. For two decades, before Lowell mills and those modeled after them offered (30) competition, the Rhode Island System of small, rural spinning mills set the tone for early industrialization. 

Slater s mill of a generation of millwrights a id textile workers (line 2 5) provided the catalyst for the spread of cotton mills in New England. 

Jurglel, J. A Ryckman Edgerly Tomllson associates "ATMI/IHF study of U. S. cotton textile workers," Amer. 

International Conference on Respiratory Diseases in Textile Workers" Alicante, Spain, 1968, p 13-36. 

This finding that removal of laclnilene, in whole or in part, does not decrease the airway constrictor activity of the DEAE extract, and that the ether layer containing these is devoid of activity tentatively suggests that these compounds are not involved with the acute lung function loss of textile workers. 

Consistent with this observation is the fact, perhaps, that in the British experience, to date, chronic bronchitis is not compensable under the jurisdiction of the byssinosls scheme. The British Ministry of Pensions has Issued a statement denying occupational significance to chronic bronchitis occurring in textile workers (18). 

A survey of 486 textile workers, from three cotton mills and one man-made fibers plant, was completed by investigators of Tulane Medical School (32). Measurements of dust, ° respiratory symptoms by the Schilling questionnaire and of ventilatory function were analyzed for correlation. The results indicated... 

Although it is generally accepted that mortality data are not sensitive indicators of morbidity factors, a consistent or significant effect of cotton exposure on health should display some manifestations in mortality indices. This is certainly not the case for textile workers. To date, every effort devoted to the identification of a measurable Influence of textile work on the mortality of its own operatives has failed to show any effect (35-38). Paradoxically, one of these surveys has concluded that more favorable mortality experience appears to characterize textile workers (38). 

Certain Investigators, however, have expressed interest in the matter recently. The possibility that a history of asthma may increase the probability of an acute byssinotic reaction to cotton dust is suggested by a paper by Hamilton et al. ( ). The senior author of this paper had had asthma as a child. Promptly after exposure to the air in a dusty part of a cotton mill he exhibited pronounced shortness of breath with tightness in the chest and accompanying major temporary decreases in FEVi and arterial oxygen tension. The episode is described as "byssinosis". The authors remark It is unlikely that many textile workers with an initial response to cotton dust such as the one described here would remain working in dusty areas." Although the authors state that "It is not possible from the present study to conclude that a prior history of atopy confers sensitivity to cotton dust", the present writers were left with the impression that the authors suspect that such may be the case. 

Cavagna et al. (35) in 1969 described the level of airborne endotoxins in cotton cardrooms (7.2 yg/m ) and in hemp cardrooms (8.7 yg/m ). Four out of fifteen volunteers showed a drop in FEV with inhalation of 40-80 yg E. coll endotoxin. Rabbits exposed to 20 yg E. coli endotoxin/day or 2 mgm cotton extract/day responded with increased pulmonary resistance to a dose five times stronger after 20 weeks. They estimated that a textile worker breathes 40-50 yg endotoxin/8 hour shift, and pointed out the constant presence of endotoxin in cotton dusts. 

Hatfield TR, Roberts EC, Bell IF, et al. 1982. Urine monitoring of textile workers exposed to dichlorobenzidine-derived pigments. J Occup Med 24(9) 656-658. 

The difficulties of adequate and reproducible diagnosis have interfered with determination of the incidence of mesothelioma. McDonald studied 11,000 Canadian chrysotile miners and, in 1980, reported that of the 4547 deaths in this group between 1910 and 1975, only 11 were recorded as resulting from mesothelioma (McDonald et al. 1980). At other sites, especially shipyards, mills, and manufacturing plants, other authors had reported higher incidences among individuals exposed to asbestos (e.g., Elmes et al., 1965 Newhouse and Thompson, 1965). Selikoff reported 15 mesotheliomas out of 199 deaths in 689 asbestos production and textile workers exposed between 1959 to 1971, although only 4 such deaths had been recorded before 1966 (Selikoff et al., 1972). 

Peto, J. (1980). The incidence of pleural mesothelioma in chrysotilc asbestos textile workers, pp. 703-771. In Biological Effects of Mineral Fibers, Vol. 2, WHO/... 

Follow-up of cotton textile workers in China found that workers who consistently reported reversible symptoms such as chest tightness at work had significantly greater 15-year loss of FEVi, suggesting that long-term cotton dust exposure was associated with permanent obstructive impairments." ... 

Epidemiological studies have indicated that prevalence of byssinosis among cotton workers can be correlated with the average concentration of lint-free dust of particle size under 15 p in diameter and with the number of years of exposure. Specifically, in a follow-up study of 66 cotton textile workers, with an additional 10 years of exposure, the prevalence of byssinosis increased from 23% to 43% in the female workers and from 23% to 52% in the male workers. ... 

Christiani DC, Wang XR, Pan L, et al Longitudinal changes in pulmonary function and respiratory s)nnptoms in cotton textile workers. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 163(4) 847-853, 2001... 

Moran TJ Emphysema and other chronic lung disease in textile workers An 18-year autopsy study. Arch Environ Health 38 261-216, 1983... 

Pratt PC, Vollmer RT, Miller JA Epidemiology of pulmonary lesions in nontextile and cotton textile workers—a retrospective autopsy analysis. Arch Environ Health 35 133-138, 1980... 

Zuskin E, Ivankovic D, Schachter EN, et al A ten-year follow-up study of cotton textile workers. Am Rev Respir Dis 143 301-305, 1991... 

An epidemiological study of 151 matched pairs of exposed textile workers revealed no evidence of cardiovascular, hepatic, renal, or other effects as a function of exposure for some workers, exposures exceeded 200 ppm, and duration of exposure ranged ftom several months to 6 years. ... 

Many dietary and environmental factors have been implicated as possible etiologic factors in the development of pancreatic cancer, but no definite causal relationships have been established. The strongest evidence points to cigarette smoking as a risk factor associated with pancreatic cancer (20-24). Occupational exposure to certain chemicals has also been linked to pancreatic carcinoma (25). Others in the high-risk group include stone miners, cement workers, gardeners, textile workers, and leather tanners (17,26). 

Individuals whose jobs expose them to unusually high particulate concentrations are especially susceptible to health problems from the pollutant. For example, men and women who work with the mineral asbestos are very prone to development of a serious and usually fatal condition known as asbestosis, in which fibers of the mineral become embedded in the interstices (the empty spaces within tissue) of the lung. Similar conditions are observed among coal workers who inhale coal dust (pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease) textile workers (byssinosis, or brown lung disease) those who work with clay, brick, silica, glass, and other ceramic materials (silicosis) and workers exposed to high levels of beryllium fumes (berylliosis). 

Benzene Hemopoietic tissue Process workers, textile workers... 

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