Cotton Dust

Cotton Dust Menu Workers' Rights

Hazards and Possible Solutions

Workers may be unaware of the potential hazards in their work environment, which makes them more vulnerable to injury. The following references aid in recognizing and finding possible solutions for cotton dust hazards.

Hazard Recognition
  • Cotton dust (raw). National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. Provides the physical description, exposure limits, and measurement methods of cotton dust and many other chemical substances.
  • Occupational Respiratory Disease Surveillance. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Workplace Safety and Health Topic. Monitors the extent and severity of occupationally-related lung disease and related workplace exposures.
  • Work-Related Lung Disease (eWoRLD) Surveillance System - Volume 1: Byssinosis: Cotton Dust Exposure. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Offers the user quick access to all summary tables, figures, and maps of the Report in three formats (html, gif, pdf, and data in csv) on byssinosis and cotton dust exposure.
Possible Solutions
  • Cotton Dust Manual. CPL 02-02-031 [CPL 2-2.31], (January 16, 1981). Establishes OSHA policy and procedures necessary for enforcing at yarn manufacturing operations, at slashing, weaving, knitting, waste house operations, and at cotton warehousing operations on the premises of the cotton's processors.
  • Washed Cotton. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication No. 95-113, (August 1995). Covers the health effects of cotton dust exposure and offers various controls that can be implemented to avoid illness.
  • For additional information on possible solutions for cotton dust related hazards, see OSHA's Safety and Health Topics Pages on: