[40][41][42][43][44][45]. The prevalence of byssinosis and nonspecific respiratorysymptoms was studied in 887 textile workers with at least two years of employment in two cotton mills and one silk mill in Shanghai, the People's Republicof China. A standardized respiratory questionnaire was used, and environmental sampling was performed with vertical e1utriatorsand colorimeter grading. Eight percent of the cotton textile workers complained of byssinosis. The reports of byssinosiswere mostly mild (grade 1/2), more prevalent among women, and unrelated to duration of employment or elutriator dust levels. Nonspecific respiratory symptoms were significantlymore prevalent among cotton textile workers than silk workers. After adjustment for age, gender, and smoking in logistic regression models, the odds ratios for the effect of working in cotton textile mills on chronic bronchitis, chronic cough, and frequent chest illness were 3.3, 2.9 and 4.7, respectively. Although none of the symptoms were related to current dust levels, the range of exposures was narrow, and information was only available on current levels of cotton dust. This study represents the first respiratory survey of the textile industry in China using diagnostic criteria similar to that used in the United States and England; it defines a cohort for prospective investigation.

CHRISTIANI DC, EISEN EA, WEGMAN DH, YE T-T, GONG Z-C, LU r-t., DAI H-L. Respiratory diseasein cotton textileworkers in the People's Republicof China: II Pulmonary function results. Scand J Work Environ Health 12 (1986) 46-50. Pulmonary function tests were performed pre and post workshift on 887 textile workers with at least two years of employment in two cotton mills and one silk mill in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Environmental sampling was performed with vertical elutriators, and pulmonary function was performed with standardized techniques. Cotton textileworkers were found to have greater across-shift decrements in forced expiratory volume in I s (FEVl.o) than silk workers. Increasing duration of exposure resulted in increasing acute decrements in FEVl. o, although significant acute decrements werefound in workers with lessthan fiveyearsof exposure. The acute changes in FEVl.o were noted in both symptomatic and asymptomatic cotton workers, though the difference between the across-shift change in FEVl.o (.6. FEVl. o 010) of the byssinotics and nonbyssinotics increased as work duration increased. There was no difference in preshift FEV 1 . o between the cotton and silk workers, but several selection factors likely influenced the observations.

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