Assessment of Occupational Dust Exposure and Respiratory Health Among Textile Workers in Kano, North West Nigeria

The textile manufacturing industry is associated with significant occupational exposure to cotton dust and other airborne particulates, which can cause chronic lung diseases including byssinosis. This study assessed occupational dust exposure levels and respiratory health outcomes among workers in two textile factories in Kano, North West Nigeria. Personal dust samplers were worn by seventy-five randomly selected workers across production departments during an eight-hour shift. Spirometric lung function testing was conducted on 210 workers, and respiratory symptom questionnaires based on the Medical Research Council criteria were administered. Dust concentrations in weaving, carding, and spinning departments exceeded 1.0 mg/m3 cotton dust, the recommended occupational exposure limit, in all three production areas. Spirometric analysis revealed obstructive ventilatory patterns in thirty-one percent of workers, with byssinosis symptoms present in twenty-two percent. Workers with more than ten years of employment in the industry demonstrated significantly lower forced expiratory volume values. Only forty percent of workers used respiratory protective devices, and these were predominantly basic surgical masks rather than appropriate respirators. The study concludes that cotton dust exposure in Kano textile factories poses serious respiratory health risks inadequately mitigated by current controls. Recommendations include engineering controls to reduce dust at source, provision of appropriate respirators, and pre-placement and periodic medical surveillance. Keywords: textile industry, cotton dust, byssinosis, respiratory health, Kano.