NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) testimony to DOL (Department of Labor) on proposed standard for occupational exposure to cotton dust, by R. Lemen, September 21, 1983
Testimony was presented to support the need for a cotton dust standard to cover the waste-utilization industry and cottonseed oil mills. The following steps were presented to protect against diseases caused by exposure to cotton dust: worker exposure to cotton dust was to be reduced to the lowest level feasible; medical monitoring was to be undertaken and workers who were particularly susceptible to cotton-dust diseases were to be removed from contact with the dust; smoking was to be discouraged. A series of cross-sectional respiratory morbidity studies was conducted to determine the existence of byssinosis and other pulmonary disease among individuals involved with nontextile industrial exposure to cotton dust. Vertical elutriators were used to provide correlation of dust concentrations in the work environment and the rest of the results of the medical survey tests. Workers in the waste-utilization industry had a higher prevalence of bronchitis and results in pulmonary function tests which indicated lung damage. In cottonseed oil mill workers, an increased number of adverse respiratory effects were noted with decreased pulmonary function test results. While there were no data regarding dose response relationships for these industries, NIOSH recommended the institution of a sound prevention strategy.
- Research Organization:
- National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5824416
- Report Number(s):
- PB-87-222634/XAB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) testimony on cotton dust before the House Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Labor Standards, by James A. Merchant, May 16, 1979
NIOSH testimony on cancer and respiratory diseases before the Subcommittee on Labor Standards, House Committee on Education and Labor by R. F. Coene, April 9, 1981
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