| Agent Name |
Cotton dust, raw |
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| Major Category |
Biological Agents |
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| Synonyms |
Cotton; Flax; Soft hemp; Kapok |
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| Category |
Plant & Animal Dusts/Aerosols |
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| 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 garneting/bedding) and in workers exposed to soft hemp, flax, and sisal dusts. [Levy, p. 559-60] |
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| 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] |
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| Exposure Assessment |
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| Skin Designation (ACGIH) |
No |
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| TLV (ACGIH) |
0.2 mg/m3, measured by vertical elutriator |
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| PEL (OSHA) |
1 mg/m3, resp. dust, measured by vertical elutriator |
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| MAK |
1.5 mg/m3, inhalable fraction |
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| IDLH (NIOSH) |
100 mg/m3 |
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| 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, air�purifying respirator equipped with high�efficiency particulate filters in concentrations exceeding 100 � the applicable OSHA PEL of either 0.2, 0.5, or 0.75 mg/m3. |
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| Half Life |
Accumulates in the lungs; [TDR, p. 401] |
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| Adverse Effects |
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| Chronic Bronchitis |
Yes |
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| Links to Other NLM Databases |
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