Airborne Dust in Wool Textile Mills: Part I: Sampling Methodologies, Monitoring, Microscopical Classification and Size Distribution Analysis of Dust from Early Stages of Wool Processing

Abstract

Part I details the results of the monitoring of The ambient air in the workspaces of carding and combing mill-rooms, carried out during the processing of wool lots from different places of origin. In order to achieve detailed Information about the origin and grain size distribution of dust particles, collected by using different sampling procedures, a measuring and classifying methodology has been established on the basis of their morphological characteristics under the Scanning Electron Microscope. The chemical composition of the inorganic fraction of wool dust is detailed in Part II. The characterisation of the organic fraction is still in progress, as well as a medical survey on the evaluation of respiratory and allergic symptoms of combing and carding workers chronically exposed to wool mill dust.