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Dust entry

Wool textile dust

Textile dust generated during wool fiber processing and manufacture.

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

respiratory symptomsreduced lung functionoccupational respiratory disease concernairway irritation

Evidence

A NIOSH-indexed study evaluated respiratory symptoms and lung function in workers exposed to wool dust in a Croatian wool textile mill.

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Cotton and wool process dusts · 2
Illness associated with exposure to wool dust is less well defined. Typically, chronic bronchitis, breathlessness, persistent rhinitis (runny or stuffy nose) and persistent conjunctivitis (itchy or sore eyes) are seen. The incidence of these symptoms is related to concentrations of airborne dust and to the number of years a person is exposed.

HSE's current textile guidance reports chronic bronchitis, breathlessness, persistent rhinitis, and persistent conjunctivitis among typical illnesses associated with wool dust, and states that cotton-dust byssinosis is related to years of exposure and airborne concentration.

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Cotton and wool process dusts · 1–2
Exposure to cotton dust has long been associated with the chronic respiratory disease byssinosis. The incidence of the disease is related to the number of years a person is exposed to the dust and the concentrations of airborne dust ... Typically, chronic bronchitis, breathlessness, persistent rhinitis ... and persistent conjunctivitis ... are seen [with wool dust].

HSE identifies textile workers as being at risk of occupational asthma and respiratory irritation from exposure to process dust.

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Textile workers · 1
Textile workers can be at risk of occupational asthma and respiratory irritation from exposure to process dust.

A NIOSH-indexed study found significantly higher chronic respiratory symptoms among wool workers than controls, acute work-shift symptoms, and significant across-shift reductions in ventilatory capacity associated with wool-dust exposure.

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page 1 · Abstract · 1
Analysis of the data demonstrated a significantly higher prevalence of all chronic respiratory symptoms in wool workers than in controls, being the highest in wool workers for nasal catarrh (M: 63.8%; F: 44.9%) and for sinusitis (M: 62.1%; F: 43.0%). A high prevalence of acute symptoms, associated with the work shift, was also noted in wool workers. Exposure to wool dust caused significant across-shift reductions of ventilatory capacity varying from 1.4% for FEV1 to 9.1% for FEF50. ... Our data suggest that dust exposures in wool textile mills may be associated with the development of chronic respiratory symptoms and impaired lung function.

Controls