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During the industrial revolution, byssinosis or brown lung disease, befell textile plant workers due to cotton or other fibers in the factory’s air.

The textile industry, for example, opposed OSHA’s plan to crack down on cotton dust, which caused an often-lethal respiratory disease called byssinosis—brown lung.

In addition, the rate of byssinosis -- a lung disease specifically linked to on-the-job exposure to cotton dust -- declined from 8 percent to less than 2 percent.