Byssinosis

Byssinosis, also called "brown lung disease" or "Monday fever", is an occupational lung disease caused by exposure to cotton dust in inadequately ventilated working environments.^[1] Byssinosis commonly occurs in workers who are employed in yarn and fabric manufacture industries. It is now thought that the cotton dust directly causes the disease and some believe that the causative agents are endotoxins that come from the cell walls of gram negative bacteria that grow on the cotton. Although bacterial endotoxin is a likely cause, the absence of similar symptoms in workers in other industries exposed to endotoxins makes this uncertain.^[2]

Of the 81 byssinosis-related fatalities reported in the United States between 1990 and 1999, 48% included an occupation in the yarn, thread, and fabric industry on the victim's death certificate.^[3] This disease often occurred in the times of the industrial revolution. Most commonly young girls working in mills or other textile factories would be afflicted with this disease. In the United States, from 1996 to 2005, North Carolina accounted for about 37% of all deaths caused by byssinosis, with 31, followed by South Carolina (8) and Georgia (7).^[4]

The term "brown lung" is a misnomer, as the lungs of affected individuals are not brown.^[5]

Symptoms

• Breathing difficulties
• Chest tightness
• Wheezing
• Cough

Brown lung can ultimately result in narrowing of the airways, lung scarring and death from infection or respiratory failure.

References

Further reading

Snyder, Rachel Louise (2007). Fugitive Denim: A Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade. W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-06180-2. 

External links

Look up byssinosis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Byssinosis: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (NIH)
• Byssinosis: Environmental Lung Diseases: Merck Home Manual Edition
• Work-Related Lung Disease Surveillance System (eWoRLD): Byssinosis and Related Exposures | CDC/NIOSH

Occupational safety and health
General topics	Environment, health and safety Ergonomics Health physics Hospital-acquired infection Indoor air quality Occupational asthma Occupational disease Occupational hygiene Occupational injury Risk management Process safety management Public health Repetitive strain injury
Professions	Environmental health Industrial engineering Occupational health nursing Occupational health psychology Occupational medicine Occupational therapist Safety engineering
Specific disorders	Acrodynia Asbestosis Berylliosis Brucellosis Byssinosis ("brown lung") Chalicosis Chimney sweeps' carcinoma Chronic solvent-induced encephalopathy (CSE) Coalworker's pneumoconiosis ("black lung") Concussions in sport De Quervain syndrome Exposure to human nail dust Farmer's lung Fiddler's neck Flock worker's lung Glassblower's cataract Golfer's elbow Hearing Loss Indium lung Laboratory animal allergy Lead poisoning Mad hatter disease Mesothelioma Metal fume fever Mule spinners' cancer Noise-induced hearing loss Phossy jaw Pneumoconiosis Radium jaw Silicosis Silo-filler's disease Surfer's ear Tennis elbow Tinnitus Writer's cramp
Organizations	European Agency for Safety and Health at Work Health and Safety Executive International Labour Organization National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Occupational Safety and Health Administration World Health Organization
Standards	Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 OHSAS 18001 Worker Protection Standard (US) Working Environment Convention, 1977
See also	Bangladesh Accord Environmental toxicology International Chemical Safety Card Safety data sheet (SDS) Sports injuries Toxic tort Workers' compensation National Day of Mourning (Canadian observance)
Category Occupational diseases Commons Journals Organizations