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Dust entry

Paper-mill dust

Airborne particulate generated during paper production and mill operations, including paper fibers and process dust.

Airborne form

fiber

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

upper-respiratory irritationnasal crustingcough with phlegmasthmarespiratory symptoms

Evidence

A NIOSH health-hazard evaluation reported more upper-respiratory symptoms, throat irritation, nasal crusting, cough with phlegm, and increased asthma prevalence among paper-mill workers exposed to paper dust compared with non-exposed workers.

Source: pdf ↗ · saved source
page 1 · Exposure to Paper Dust and the Onset of Asthma and Chronic Bronchitis · 1
An elevated relative risk for chronic bronchitis was associated with current dust exposure of > 1 mg/m3. It appears that paper dust exposure increases the risk of chronic bronchitis but not asthma.

A NIOSH newspaper-production HHE measured paper dust and found significantly higher chronic-bronchitis symptom rates among press-room workers than reel-room workers; it also reported reduced pulmonary-function performance with age and years of press work and dermatitis/eye irritation associated with oil mist and paper dust. The report did not establish an independent paper-dust effect.

Source: pdf ↗ · saved source
page 1 · Summary · 3
A respiratory symptom questionnaire and pulmonary function tests were administered to 187 workers. Press room workers were found to have a significantly higher rate of chronic bronchitis symptoms than reel room workers after adjusting for smoking history and age. Pulmonary function performance declined with age and years of press work, but these variables were so closely correlated that an independent effect for years of exposure could not be evaluated. Dermatitis and eye irritation due to oil mist and paper dust exposure were reported by 40% of the workers.

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