Construction - Cotton Dust
Cotton dust is often present in the air during cotton handling and processing. Cotton dust may contain A lot of substances including ground-up plant matter, fiber, bacteria, fungi, soil, pesticides, non-cotton matter, and other contaminants that may have accumulated during growing, harvesting, and subsequent processing or storage periods.
HEALTH EFFECTS OF COTTON DUST
Exposure to cotton dust can mean serious health problems. The first symptoms of disease are difficulty in breathing or perhaps a tightness across the chest which is mainly noticeable on the first day back at work after a worker has been off for a few days. Workers also cough up phlegm or mucous.
If exposure above the Government limit continues, workers may develop byssinosis, also known as "brown lung" disease. While earlier breathing difficulties may be reversible, damage at the advanced stages of the disease is permanent and disabling. Workers who develop brown lung may have to retire early because they are so short of breath they can not do their normal jobs or even carry out simple tasks. Exposure to cotton dust also leads to increased risk of chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
At the time the final standard was published, as A lot of as 100,000 workers in the cotton industry were in danger from cotton dust exposure. It is thought that 35,000 individuals are disabled from byssinosis consequently of exposure to cotton dust.
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