A PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDY OF BYSSINOSIS IN COLONIAL AMERICA*

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Abstract
We assessed the acute effects of inhalation of flax dust, produced during processing of flax fibers under conditions similar to those in colonial America. Exposure to this dust, for about 5 hours, caused minor symptoms of chest tightness in five healthy persons, accompanied by decreases of maximum expiratory flow rates, indicating acute small airway obstruction. Measurements of flow rates on partial expiratory flow‐volume (PEFV) curves were more sensitive than flow rates on MEFV curves and FEV1.0 in assessing constrictor effects of flax dust, even though flow rates on flow‐volume curves are more variable under control conditions than the FEV1.0. Thus, acute symptoms of byssinosis may have been prevalent among early settlers in America who processed flax in their barns. Since these barns were used for many other purposes as well, children and other farm workers were probably also at risk.Ramazzini's observations on the flax and hemp workers of Northern Italy were, for obvious reasons, not accompanied by objective evidence concerning the effects of flax and hemp dust on the lungs. Since 17th‐century working conditions are being recreated in historical restoration projects, and modern function tests are available, such objective evidence can now be obtained. With the revival of primitive crafts in our times, this is of some practical importance.The primitive methods used for fiber processing in Ramazzini's time are demonstrated every day at Philipsburg Manor, North Tarrytown, New York. Philipsburg Manor is a restoration project, dedicated to a historical interpretation of life among early Dutch settlers in the Hudson Valley. A recent field study on this site provided an opportunity to assess the acute effects of flax dust on the lungs of people who process flax fibers with primitive methods and on the lungs of others who are exposed to flax dust in the same environment.

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