Cotton dust, raw

Synonyms

Cotton; Flax; Soft hemp; Kapok

Category

Plant & Animal Dusts/Aerosols

Sources/Uses

Highest exposures from opening, picking, carding, and blowing fibers; Lower risk for spinning, winding, and twisting; weavers have the lowest risk; Byssinosis is also seen in other industries (cottonseed oil extraction, cotton waste utilization and mattress/bedding) and in workers exposed to soft hemp, flax, and sisal dusts. [Levy, p. 416]

Comments

Raw, unprocessed cotton dust causes byssinosis. After a heavy exposure, cotton, flax, hemp, and kapok dusts can also cause "mill fever." [Rom, p. 410]

Biomedical References

Insufficient data

0.1 mg/m3, thoracic fraction

1 mg/m3, resp. dust, measured by vertical elutriator

1.5 mg/m3, inhalable fraction

100 mg/m3

Excerpts from Documentation for IDLHs

Note: The 1 mg/m3 OSHA PEL for cotton dust applies to the cotton waste processing operations of waste recycling (sorting, blending, cleaning, and willowing) and garnetting. In other sectors involving cotton, OSHA currently requires in 29 CFR 1919.1043 that workers be provided with and required to wear and use a powered, air­purifying respirator equipped with high­efficiency particulate filters in concentrations exceeding 100 × the applicable OSHA PEL of either 0.2, 0.5, or 0.75 mg/m3.

Accumulates in the lungs; [TDR, p. 401]

Yes

Not Classifiable

Diseases

Occupational diseases associated with exposure to this agent:

• Byssinosis
• Inhalation fever
• Mill fever
• Pulmonary disease, chronic obstructive

Processes

Industrial Processes with risk of exposure:

• Textiles (Fiber & Fabric Manufacturing)

Activities

Activities with risk of exposure:

• Textile arts