If you have not heard of byssinosis, that could be because it’s a rare lung disease—though it appears to be more common outside of the United States. It can be called “brown lung disease,” “cotton worker’s lung,” “Monday fever” and “mill fever.” Byssinosis develops exclusively in people who have been exposed to tiny fibers in textile production plants, like cotton, hemp, flax, and jute fibers. Dust from these plants, especially cotton, is thought to block the smallest airways in the lungs—bronchioles—and cause breathing problems. These breathing problems also seem to be related to release of “endotoxin” —a toxin made within a cell of the body that is released when the cell dies or disintegrates—as all cells do.
