Pulmonary toxicity of dust generated during weaving of carpets

The dust generated during weaving (carpet dust) tibbati, knotted and tuffted carpets in carpet industry was studied for its toxicity in vitro and in vivo. Carpet dust (0.5, 1.0, 2.5 and 5.0 mg/1£10 6 cells) caused in vitro cytotoxicity in rat alveolar macrophages (AM) in a concentration-dependent manner. The cytotoxic, inflammatory and oxidative responses were observed in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of rats at 1, 4, 8 and 16 days after exposure. Rats were intratracheally exposed at 5 mg/rat individually to all three types of carpet dust. All types of carpet dusts produced increased AM, lymphocytes (PMN) population in BALF suggesting their inflammatory reactions. Cytotoxic nature of carpet dust was shown by the increased activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and acid phosphatase (AP) in BALF. Increased AM population and in vitro cytotoxicity due to carpet dusts have shown some correlation with the levels of LDH and AP activities in BALF. The gradual enhanced profile of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) ...