• Cotton dust is generated from the handling and processing of cotton fibers.
• Cotton dust can cause acute and long-term health effects, such as lung injury.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation at 1910.1043 applies to the control of employee exposure to cotton dust where employees engage in yarn manufacturing, in slashing and weaving operations, or work in waste houses for textile operations.

Cotton dust is generated from the handling or processing of cotton fibers. This dust may contain a mixture of many substances, including ground-up plant matter, fiber, bacteria, fungi, soil, pesticides, non-cotton matter, and other contaminants. It appears as a whitish solid in fibers and/or particulates and is also a combustible solid.

Cotton dust is present in the manufacturing of yarn, in slashing and weaving operations, or in waste houses for textile operations. Included in these processes are carding, mixing, blowing, bale breaking, cottonseed oil extraction, batting, ginning, weaving, and harvesting.

Any dust present during the handling and processing of cotton through the weaving or knitting of fabrics, and dust present in other operations or manufacturing processes using raw or waste cotton fibers or cotton fiber byproducts from textile mills are considered cotton dust.

Through inhalation, airborne particles of cotton dust may be taken into the body, and can present serious acute and long-term health hazards, such as lung injury.