name the diseases of often develop in people working in silk
industry
Answers
Even though, the Silkworm life cycle is eco friendly, silk industry involves certain health risks such as carbon monoxide poisoning in temperate area like Kashmir due to the use of burnt coal to raise room temperature, handling of diseased worms and excreta with bare hands, use of formaline and bleaching powder for disinfection, use of bed disinfectants made from paraformaldehyde, use of organophosphates pesticides to control mealy bug, leaf roller and white fly, use of chlorpyrifos to control termites. Beside, Grainage workers suffer from moth scales, which trigger asthma and conjunctivitis. While cocoons are put in hot water to loosen silk fibres for unwinding, the workers also put their bare hands in hot water, resulting in blisters in their hands leading to secondary infection, such as dermatitis. About 70 Benzidine based silk colorants such as azo dyes, release carcinogenic aromatic amines. Similarly, heavy metal complex dyes, are known to damage mental and central nervous function, lower energy levels and damage blood composition, lungs, kidneys and liver. Trivalent chromium used to fix silk dyes undergoes oxidation into hexavalent chromium, which leads to skin irritation, ulcers, sensitization and allergic contact dermatitis. Lead acetate used in dyeing silk cloth is a neurotoxin. It affects the human brain as well as reproductive system. Lead also affects reading and reasoning abilities in children. Dye factories across the world are dumping millions of tons of dye effluent into rivers without any effluent treatment. Pentachlorophenol, which is used in spray starch before ironing silk garment to protect from mould attack also, pose severe health problems. Formaldehyde resins routinely applied on silk to reduce shrinkage and wrinkling, cause eczematous rashes. Contact with silk cloth with a pH outside the accepted range (5.5), turns the skin flora out of balance and causes irritation. Dermatitis, narcosis, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, headache, eye irritation, adverse reproductive hazards including increased risk of miscarriage and serious neurological problems can all result from the processes of screen printing, where toluene, xylene and methyl ethyl ketone are used as solvents of the inks, thinners and clean up materials. Several health hazards are also associated with weaving and related activities, which cause stress and strain to weavers. Need of including eco parameters testing in issuing silk mark certificate is discussed