Personal inhalable dust and endotoxin exposure among workers in an integrated textile factory

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of task descriptions and final products of the different sections in the integrated textile factory.

Department	Section	Description of tasks or activities	Products
Spinning	Carding	Removing impurities and smoothing the raw cotton Tasks include blowing, carding, and drawing	“Silver” rope-like fiber
	Open end	Separating the silver rope into single fibers	Yarn with high hairiness
	Ring frame	Twisting the drafted strand with the required count and strength. Tasks also include roving and auto coning	Higher-quality yarn with uniform structure and strength
Weaving	Preparatory	Tasks include warping, winding, twisting, doubling, and sizing	Strong, smooth, and elastic warp yarn
	Fabric making	Combining warp and weft components to make a woven structure using a loom	Fabric
Finishing	Batching	Inspecting the quality of the fabrics, bleaching, and dying	Good appearance of the fabrics
Garment	Sewing	Pulling of sheets, cutting, and sewing	Clothing

Table 2. Description of the sampling strategy by working departments and work sections in an integrated textile factory.

Production departments	Work sections	Total number of workers	Number of workers selected for air sampling	Number of personal air samples collected
Spinning	Carding	79	12	18
	Open end	67	10	15
	Ring frame	86	10	15
Weaving	Preparatory	68	8	12
	Fabric making	126	10	15
Finishing	Batching	68	8	11
Garment	Sewing	136	6	10

Table 3. Personal exposure to inhalable dust, endotoxin, ratio of endotoxin per mg dust and correlation between dust and endotoxin across departments and sections in an integrated textile factory.

Department and section	Inhalable dust (mg·m^−3)			Endotoxin (EU·m^−3)		Ratio of endotoxin to dust (EU·mg^−1 dust)		Correlation b/n dust and endotoxin
	n	AM (Range)	GM (GSD)	AM (Range)	GM (GSD)	AM (Range)	GM (GSD)	r
Spinning	48	1.3 (0.1 − 8.8)	0.71 (2.8)*^a	4041 (80 − 30801)	1560 (5.0)**^a	3876 (106 − 15432)	2271 (3)**^a	0.585**^b
-Carding	18	2.1 (0.5 − 8.8)	1.34 (2.4)	8665 (2344 − 30801)	6381 (2)	6526 (611 − 15432)	5032 (2)
-Open end	15	0.8 (0.2 − 3.6)	0.57 (2.1)	1824 (495 − 7077)	1315 (2)	2784 (407 − 4811)	2323 (2)
-Ring frame	15	0.9 (0.1 − 7.6)	0.42 (3.1)	1017 (80 − 5877)	375 (4)	1966 (106 − 8083)	902 (4)
Weaving	27	1.1 (0.1 − 6.7)	0.78 (2.3)*^a	1944 (74 − 11492)	1086 (3.0)	2242 (350 − 17938)	1394 (2)*^a	0.650**^b
-Preparatory	12	0.7 (0.1 − 2.1)	0.47 (2.4)	2593 (74 − 11492)	992 (4)	3756 (350 − 17938)	2097 (3 )
-Fabric making	15	1.5 (0.7 − 6.7)	1.16 (1.8)	1424 (455 − 4818)	1167 (2)	1031 (584 − 1332)	1005 (1)
Finishing^c	11	2.2 (0.3 − 10.5)	1.25 (2.8)	465 (34 − 1667)	258 (3)	340 (32 − 1406)	206 (3)	0.571
Garment^d	9	0.5 (0.4 − 0.7)	0.46 (1.2)	393 (12 − 2476)	76 (6)	358 (25 − 2464)	112 (4)	−0.052
All	95	1.3 (0.1 − 10.5)	0.75 (2.6)**^e	2647 (12 − 30801)	831 (5.4)**^e**f	2656 (3418)	119 (5)**^e**f	0.450**^b

AM = Arithmetic mean; GM = Geometric mean; SD = Standard deviation; GSD = Geometric standard deviation; n = Number of samples.

^a Test for differences in means between sections within departments.

^b Test for correlation between inhalable dust and endotoxin.

^c Batching section in the finishing department.

^d Sewing section in the garment department.

^e Test for differences in means between sections in the factory.

^f Test for differences in means between departments in the factory.

* p-value < 0.05.

** p-value < 0.001.