Relation of the Acute Pulmonary Response to Cotton Dust and Dust Compositional Analysis by Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy. Part I: Elutriated Dust

Abstract

The near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) method of analysis, as applied to cotton dust, offers an independent method for searching for byssinosis causatives. We wish to report here a test of the hypothesis that the acute pulmonary response from subjects exposed to cotton dust is a linear function of the composition of elutriated dust as measured by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS). Indeed, a linear relationship was found between delta FEV1 (the forced expiratory volume in one second) and cotton dust captured by the vertical elutriator cotton dust sampler. Of the various agents proposed over the years as the byssinosis causative agent, at least three of them (gram-negative bacteria and their endotoxin, and tannins) were present in the dust at concentrations exceeding the NIRS sensitivity level, and may account for the observed relationship.