title: Airborne micro-organisms and prevalence of byssinotic symptoms in cotton mills.
abstract: The concentration of airborne microbes, their endotoxins and the prevalence of byssinotic symptoms among workers were measured in the cardrooms of seven cotton spinning, a wool spinning and two cotton waste mills and in a dusty workroom of a group of five willowing mills, a tea-packing plant and a pipe tobacco factory. The concentration of microbes cultured on endoagar plates were found to correlate with byssinosis prevalence (r greater than 0.95, P less than 0.001). The concentration of nutrient agar microbes correlated with prevalence less well (r greater than 0.77, P less than 0.01) and that of fungi and endotoxins not at all.
mesh_terms: D000391:Air Microbiology; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria; D002095:Byssinosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D003470:Culture Media; D004391:Dust; D004731:Endotoxins; D005658:Fungi; D003368:Gossypium; D006801:Humans; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D013662:Tea; D013783:Textile Industry; D014026:Nicotiana; D014935:Wool
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D003470:Culture Media; D004391:Dust; D004731:Endotoxins; D013662:Tea