On 20 Aug 2003 23:05:46 GMT, Brian Sandle
wrote:

Steve B wrote:
On 18 Aug 2003 23:01:13 GMT, Brian Sandle
wrote:


The spray is Bt.

Bt has been genetically engineered into cotton plants in an attempt to
resist the boll weevil, and they are quite widely planted.

So: do that with a few more plants (which no-one works with on a daily
basis or makes underpants out of), and we remove the need for
spraying, surely?

Isn't it witches don't like applying water?

Would the lint from Bt cotton undergarments cause any people more lung/eye
irritation than non-Bt cotton?

I think we do get nutrition through our lungs. Some things are directly
absorbed and some broken down a bit?

If Bt cotton is in the lungs will there be byssinosis more frequently than
for non-Bt?

Occupational disease affecting cotton workers, characterised by
chronic bronchitis, to save anyone else the effort of looking it up.
Happens more often on Mondays, apparently. ("Yeah, right!" some rooted
cynics may respond.).

http://chorus.rad.mcw.edu/doc/00053.html

[...]
Monday morning syndromes stemming from occupational exposure to toxic
substances have also been described in cardiology. One of the best
known is "Monday Morning Sudden Cardiac Death" among dynamite
manufacturing workers, most likely due to acute re-exposure to nitrate
esters upon return to work after a brief period of absence
[...]
from
Linkname: Proposed Agenda for OC
URL:
http://www.workhealth.org/Occ.%20Car...0for%20OC.html
size: 1268 lines

Seriously, I wonder whether there's a genuinely suggested cause for
this anomaly.

Apparently steam treatment of the cotton fibre is protective. Is it
killing bacteria which grow over the weekend, or moistening the cotton
fibers or otherwise making them stick into larger bundles?

Has anyone other than you, Brian, suggested there is more byssinosis
from Bt resistant cotton?

discussed on `byssinosis' thread.

On a cursory scan I can see nothing
(unfortunately, there's someone called Butcher, BT, who seems to have
done a lot of work on byssinosis and cotton, but not as far as I can
see on Bt).

Who is going to bother to research it?

Who is bothering with the lungs of child outworkers helping their parents
to get paid for their contracts?

Please explain this further [child outworkers helping their parents
etc]

Cath


I'm sure you'll have a reference or two (URLs only, please).

Meanwhile, let the double-blind underpant trials commence. I'd be a
lot less nervous about taking part than I would about using unbleached
loo-paper and bringing my sensitive underparts in contact with the
proven carcinogens secreted by those nasty trees.

I think the strong perfumes put into toilet paper may be troublesome.
Maybe they swell the tissues into piles, same as might be a result in some
people of using anti-angina nitroglycerin spray standing up. I wonder.