Byssinosis

byssinosis

[¦bīs·ə′nō·səs]

(medicine)

A pneumoconiosis caused by the inhalation of cotton dust. Also known as brown lung disease.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Byssinosis

 

a pulmonary disease, related to the pneumoconiosis group of conditions which arise from prolonged inspiration of cotton dust. Byssinosis may develop in workers at flax processing plants. It is distinguished from other forms of pneumoconiosis by the presence of bronchitis and emphysema accompanied by very weak development of connective tissues.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.