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Dust entry

Cottonseed dust

Respirable dust generated in cottonseed oil-mill operations, including measurable bacterial endotoxin.

Airborne form

dust

The form describes what is suspended in air at the point of exposure. A material can produce more than one form, such as dust during handling and fume during heating.

Health effects

endotoxin exposurereduced forced expiratory volume concernrespiratory effects

Evidence

A NIOSH survey found endotoxin in respirable dust at all cottonseed oil mills studied. About 30% of samples exceeded 0.5 micrograms/m3, identified in the abstract as the threshold for reducing one-second forced expiratory volume; concentrations below 0.1 micrograms/m3 occurred in about 40% of samples.

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Abstract · 1
The authors note that endotoxin was present in the respirable dust of all cottonseed oil mills surveyed. In about 30 percent of the samples, airborne endotoxin concentrations exceeded 0.5 micrograms per cubic meter, the threshold for reducing the one second forced expiratory volume (FEV1).

NIOSH’s cotton-dust criteria document states that the standard is designed to protect workers despite gaps in knowledge about byssinosis etiology and recommends a workplace concentration up to 0.2 mg/m³ to reduce byssinosis prevalence and severity.

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page 1 · Recommendations for a Cotton Dust Standard · 1
Although there are significant gaps in knowledge of the etiology of byssinosis, the standard is designed to compensate for this gap and to provide the greatest feasible degree of health protection for exposed workers over their working lifetime. ... NIOSH recommends an environmental concentration as high as 0.2 mg lint-free cotton dust/cu m, in order to reduce the prevalence and severity of byssinosis.

Controls