1st Edition

The Cotton Dust Papers Science, Politics, and Power in the "Discovery" of Byssinosis in the U.S

    176 Pages
    by Routledge

    176 Pages
    by Routledge

    "The Cotton Dust Papers" is the story of the 50-year struggle for recognition in the U.S. of this pernicious occupational disease. The authors contend that byssinosis could have and should have been recognized much sooner, as a great deal was known about the disease as early as the 1930s. Using mostly primary sources, the authors explore three instances from the 1930s to the 1960s in which evidence suggested the existence of brown lung in the mills, yet nothing was done. What the story of byssinosis makes clear is that the economic and political power of private owners and managers can hinder and shape the work of health investigators.

    Foreword

    Preface

    Acknowledgments

    CHAPTER 1.
     By Any Other Name: Brown Lung and The Social Recognition of Disease

    CHAPTER 2.
    “Kiss of Death”: Banning the Suction Shuttle in Massachusetts by William Mass, Charles Levenstein, and Gregory F. DeLaurier

    CHAPTER 3.
     Textiles Move South, 1920-1940

    CHAPTER 4.
    “Cotton Colic”

    CHAPTER 5.
     The Harvard Cotton Dust Project by Charles Levenstein and Susan Woskie

    CHAPTER 6.
    “We Were Running from It, Really”: Workers’ Compensation and Byssinosis, 1950-1968

    CHAPTER 7.
     Georgia and the “Mysterious Disease” of Byssinosis

    CHAPTER 8.
     Bouhuys’ Disease

    CHAPTER 9.
     Brown Lung and the Dilemmas of a Novice Investigator, 1968-1969

    CHAPTER 10.
     Full Circle: “Burlington’s Disease”

    CHAPTER 11.
     Brown Lung and the Lessons for Occupational Health and Safety

    Index

    Biography

    Charles Levenstein, Gregory Delaurier, Mary Lee Dunn