OSHA surveillance data were collected for 448 individual employed in three different cotton textile mills. Current workers were asked to complete a questionnaire about personal and family history of atopy or asthma. Both surveillance and survey data were available for 263 individuals.

The prevalence of atopy in the population as reported by questionnaire was 20%. No relationship was found between atopic status and acute overshift changes in FEV(1) or annual (chronic) changes in FEV(1) or FVC. No relationship was detected between these parameters and a history of asthma. Workers from mill 3 showed a significantly greater average annual decline in FVC than workers in mill 1 (p <.02). Within mill 1, the effect was maintained for workers identified as smokers (p = .0001) and for those with self-reported history of atopy (p = .0045). Neither a history of atopy or asthma, as determined by questionnaire alone, was a good predictor of either acute or chronic pulmonary responsiveness to the low levels of cotton dust at the mills used in this study.