Brown lung is a lung disease that affects many workers in cotton textile mills. The disease, also called byssinosis, results from inhaling the cotton dust that enters the air during processing. The dust contains fragments of bracts–the small leaves that surround the cotton boll–and other plant parts. Physicians believe these fragments are the main cause of brown lung.
Workers who develop brown lung first experience symptoms after months or years of exposure to cotton dust. The symptoms include shortness of breath, a feeling of tightness in the chest, and in many cases, coughing. At first, the symptoms usually occur only on the first day of work after a weekend or vacation. Later, they may last all week. Continued exposure to cotton dust may permanently damage a worker’s ability to breathe, especially the ability to exhale, and result in a condition similar to chronic bronchitis (see Bronchitis ).
Physicians diagnose brown lung from a patient’s symptoms and job history and by observing a decreased ability to exhale rapidly after exposure to cotton dust. The only way to halt the progress of the disease is to end the victim’s exposure to cotton dust. Contrary to its name, brown lung does not affect lung color.
The governments of the United States and many other nations have set limits on workers’ exposure to cotton dust in textile mills. In some states of the United States, workers disabled by brown lung may receive workers’ compensation.
