AIRBORNE DUST IN WOOL TEXTILE MILLS PART .1. SAMPLING METHODOLOGIES, MONITORING, MICROSCOPIC CLASSIFICATION AND SIZE DISTRIBUTION ANALYSIS OF DUST FROM EARLY STAGES OF WOOL PROCESSING

Part I derails 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 a chieve detailed information about the origin and grain size distributi on 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 Electr on Microscope. The chemical composition of the inorganic fraction of w ool dust is detailed in Part II. The characterisation of the organic f raction is still in progress, as well as a medical survey on the evalu ation of respiratory and allergic symptoms of combing and carding work ers chronically exposed to wool mill dust.