Airborne dust samples were gathered from the vicinity of various commonly performed processes in the wool-preparation industry. Samples of wool airborne dust were collected on membrane filters during the processing of wool lots. The chemical composition of inorganic particles present in total in spirable and respirable dust fractions, was determined by means of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The widely differing morphologies of the particles collected raise questions about the validity of trying to correlate minor respiratory symptoms with dust concentrations, as particle types will penetrate the respiratory system more easily than others. The results are discussed with respect to the used sampling methodology
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