AIRBORNE DUST IN THE PERSONAL BREATHING ZONE AND THE PREVALENCE OF BYSSINOTIC SYMPTOMS IN THE LANCASHIRE TEXTILE INDUSTRY

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The concentrations of airborne dust less ‘fly’, its respirable and endotoxin components, and the concentration of airborne viable gram-negative and total bacteria were determined in the personal breathing zone and/or the work-zone of workers during an 8 h shift; measurements were made in the workrooms of 31 factories spinning or weaving man-made fibre and/or cotton of various qualities. At the same time a questionnaire survey was carried out for determining some personal characteristics of the people employed in the factories and their respiratory symptoms. Compared with observations made 10 years ago, both the concentration of airborne bacteria and the prevalence of byssinotic symptoms had declined markedly. The presence or absence of byssinotic symptoms was nevertheless found to be statistically significantly related to numerous factors such as the number of years worked in the industry, ethnic origin, trade, workroom of employment, quality of fibre processed and exposure to dust, endotoxins, etc. A simple linear model was developed for estimating the probability of contracting byssinosis in a given workroom. The prevalence of byssinotic symptoms in workrooms was found to correlate statistically highly significantly with the concentration of total dust less ‘fly’ measured in workers' personal breathing zones ( r =0.92. P −3 .

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: