Study of Respiratory Effect of Short- and Long-term Cotton Gin Exposure

¹ From the Department of Medicine, Valley Medical Center of Fresno, and the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

No excess of obstructive airway disease was found in a group of 265 cotton gin workers when compared with other San Joaquin Valley agricultural workers. After an average of eight weeks' employment in San Joaquin Valley cotton gins, 125 workers showed no appreciable deterioration of pulmonary function compared with pre-employment measurements.

In studies of pulmonary function during a workshift, cotton gin workers showed slightly greater mean decrements than control agricultural workers. These differences did not reach a level of statistical significance and were lower than those usually found in byssinosis.

The unusual temporal pattern of employment in cotton gins in California precludes a simple approach to diagnosis by symptoms. No correlation was found in this study between symptoms of byssinosis and objective decrements in FEV₁. The questionnaire as proposed by the Cotton Dust Standard was found to be of no value in detecting reactors in this study of gin workers.