Cotton Dust and Byssinosis: Dust in Spinning Mills

What is byssinosis?

Byssinosis is an occupational disease that narrows the airways and is caused by long-term inhalation of airborne dust released during the processing of plant fibres such as cotton, flax and hemp. The bale opening, blowroom and carding departments of spinning mills are where this dust is most concentrated. The disease starts insidiously: in the first years, symptoms appear only on certain days of the week and are often mistaken for a “cold” or a “smoker’s cough”.

Byssinosis is recognised as an occupational disease in Türkiye. The list of occupational diseases is in Annex 2 of the regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 11 October 2008 and consists of five groups; byssinosis is listed in group C, which contains pneumoconioses and other occupational respiratory diseases. For the full list, see our article on the list of occupational diseases.

Where does cotton dust arise? High-risk departments in a spinning mill

Cotton dust is not made up only of fibre particles; it also contains plant debris, soil and substances from micro-organisms on the fibre. The spinning mill dust map follows the production flow: the rawer and more open the fibre, the denser the dust.

Department	Process	Note on dust
Bale opening and blowroom	Opening and blending compressed bales	Raw fibre and debris; usually one of the dustiest departments
Carding	Combing fibres into sliver	Dense short fibres and fly
Drawing and combing	Combining slivers, separating short fibres	Fly and waste
Roving and spinning	Drafting and twisting	Lower but continuous fly
Waste collection	Moving waste from under machines and from filters	Short but intense exposure
Filter and dust room cleaning	Emptying dust collection systems	The moment of highest exposure for the maintenance team
Machine cleaning	Blowing with compressed air	Lifts settled dust back into the air

The last two rows of the table stand out: part of the exposure comes not from production but from cleaning and maintenance. Employees doing this work should also be addressed separately in health surveillance.

The weekly pattern of symptoms: Monday chest tightness

What distinguishes byssinosis from other respiratory diseases is that its symptoms follow the working week. In the literature, this picture is known as Monday chest tightness.

Early stage: On the first working day after the weekend or a holiday, chest tightness, shortness of breath and coughing begin later in the shift. On the following days, symptoms decrease or disappear.
Progressive stage: Symptoms spread to the other days of the week; the first working day is no longer the only bad day.
Late stage: Symptoms become permanent; the narrowing of the airways continues on days away from work and may be irreversible.

This pattern also shows what you need to ask in health surveillance: the question “On which day does the chest tightness start?” gives far more information than a general “Are you short of breath?”. Smoking increases the effect of cotton dust on health and confuses the picture; that is why support for quitting smoking is also part of protection. For another condition associated with the same dusts, see our article on occupational asthma.

Textile dust and the lungs: health surveillance and lung function test follow-up

In the relationship between textile dust and the lungs, the key to early diagnosis is catching the change in time. A single measurement is often not enough; comparison with the employee’s own baseline is needed.

Pre-employment: For employees who will work in dusty departments, the workplace physician takes a respiratory history and, if deemed necessary, establishes a baseline with a lung function test (spirometry).
Symptom questioning: At periodic examinations, a structured questionnaire asking on which day of the week symptoms begin is used.
Lung function test follow-up: There is no fixed frequency for lung function tests in the legislation; the workplace physician decides according to risk. Where deemed necessary, the physician can assess the decline during the shift by comparing pre-shift and post-shift measurements on the first working day of the week.
Trend monitoring: Each employee’s lung function test results are tracked on the same form over the years; a fall compared with the previous year in a value that looks “normal” on its own is also significant.
Referral and notification: An employee given a provisional diagnosis of occupational disease is referred to a healthcare provider authorised by the Social Security Institution (SGK) under Art. 14 of Law No. 6331.

The Regulation on Dust Control also requires the frequency of health surveillance to be determined by the workplace physician, taking into account the risk assessment, dust measurements and the type of dust. For the general intervals of periodic examinations, see our article on periodic examinations and tests, and for the test itself, see our article on the lung function test.

Dust control: reducing dust at source

The Regulation on Dust Control puts prevention methods in order: substitution, collective protection, engineering methods, sufficient clean air, personal protective equipment where necessary, and supervision. In a spinning mill, this translates as follows:

Extraction integrated into machines: On bale opening, blowroom and carding machines, dust is extracted at the point where it is generated. Extraction openings are checked regularly for blockages.
Enclosed transport: Fibre and waste are transported in enclosed ducts wherever possible.
Humidity and air conditioning: In yarn production, ambient humidity is already controlled for the process; the filter and maintenance arrangements of the air-conditioning system are planned so as to prevent dust being redistributed into the hall.
Cleaning method: Vacuum cleaning is preferred to blowing with compressed air; if blowing is unavoidable, it is done between shifts and when few people are present.
Filter and dust room maintenance: Maintenance is tied to a work plan, and the employee doing it is given suitable respiratory protection. Accumulated cotton dust is also a fire and dust explosion risk.
Measurement: The regulation requires dust measurements to be carried out at intervals set by the risk assessment and repeated when conditions change. We plan workplace environment measurements with authorised laboratories and enter the results into the risk assessment.

Personal protective equipment comes last on the list but is necessary: in dusty departments and during maintenance work, a well-fitting dust mask of a suitable class is used. For selection, see our article on FFP1, FFP2 and FFP3 dust masks.

How is it entered into the risk assessment?

Do not leave cotton dust as a one-line “dust” item in the risk assessment. Expand it with this checklist:

Dust sources by department and the number of employees exposed,
The latest dust measurement results and the date of the next measurement,
Maintenance and inspection records for extraction systems,
The cleaning method and limits on the use of compressed air,
A separate line for employees doing maintenance and filter cleaning,
The health surveillance programme: baseline lung function test, symptom questioning and the follow-up frequency set by the physician,
Support for quitting smoking and information for employees.

Do not underestimate the information part. Art. 16 of Law No. 6331 requires employees to be informed about the risks at the workplace and the measures taken. Employees in dusty departments should at least be told: the importance of telling the physician on which day chest tightness begins, whom to notify when an extraction opening is blocked, that work clothes should not be shaken out with compressed air, and that the canteen should not be entered in dusty clothes. These topics stick when they are explained face to face, using the machines on site, in the job- and workplace-specific risks section of basic training.

In textile businesses in Bursa and the surrounding provinces, spinning, weaving and finishing are often in the same area, even under the same roof. For risks in weaving halls, see our article on OHS in weaving businesses. At Bursa Sistemer OSGB, in our health surveillance service we plan symptom questioning and lung function test follow-up by department and carry out tests with authorised laboratories and healthcare facilities; under risk assessment, we identify dust sources together on site.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is byssinosis considered an occupational disease?

Yes. Byssinosis is listed in the list of occupational diseases in Annex 2 of the 2008 regulation, in group C, which contains occupational respiratory diseases. When a provisional diagnosis is made, the employee is referred to a healthcare provider authorised by SGK.

Why does Monday chest tightness occur?

In the early stage of byssinosis, symptoms become pronounced on the first working day after a weekend spent away from the dust and decrease as the week goes on. As the disease progresses, symptoms spread to other days and may become permanent.

How often should lung function tests be done in a spinning mill?

There is no fixed frequency for lung function tests in the legislation; the workplace physician decides according to the dust concentration, measurement results and the employee’s condition. What matters is taking a baseline at the start of employment and comparing results over the years with the same employee’s previous values.

Does a dust mask prevent byssinosis?

A correctly chosen, well-fitting mask reduces exposure, but it is not sufficient on its own. The priority is to reduce dust at source with extraction integrated into machines, enclosed transport and the correct cleaning method.