I believe my job caused COPD - Doctors/ solicitors disagree.
I 've never smoked, been sorting text... - Lung Conditions C...
I 've never smoked, been sorting textiles for the last 14 yrs and recently been diagnosed with COPD. Please contact if same diagnosis.
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greyhound1982
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36 Replies
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What does your doctor say caused your C.O.P.D. then!
Hi Rick thanks for your reply. My doctor says there is no way of proving it was textile dust but it could be a contributory factor. No scans, etc., will show textile dust unfortunately. Perhaps I should try a "no win, no fee" Solicitor if I get desperate! Regards, greyhoundlady.
make sure you choose a solicitor that deals in industrial illnesses, good luck
If you apply for Industrial Injuries benefit together with the application form there is a list of conditions which they consider are caused by work, you may well be able to find this online.
Many thanks. My Solicitor also send me about this.
Had a quick look and found this hse.gov.uk/copd/causes.htm
Great response secondlife. xx
Many thanks. Does not apparently relate to any specific dust. My solicitor thinks I would have a case if I worked in a flour mill!
My relatives.all worked in. Cotton mills (many years ago. !) And they were copd sufferers ! Mind you then it wasnt diagnosed they were just classed as (Chesty. !) but no one was well through working with textiles sue
Thanks Sue. Just wish I knew how to prove my case. Scans will only show asbestosis not textile dust.
Hi Greyhound. I worked in the carpet trade for over forty years and now have severe COPD. Of course, because I smoked at one time that gets the blame; I do often wonder about it though.
Bobby
Thanks for your reply and so sorry to hear you're one of us.
I don't know how many years it takes for genetics to come into effect Bobby, my grandfather and his father spent their lives down the mines, I know grandpa had pneumonia when he died, My mum (his daughter) also had emphysema, and it makes you wonder if you're born with that weakness already there? But I remember a chap a few years ago coming to lay some cushion floor and the spray he used was nearly killing me. I asked shouldn't he be using a mask, nah, he said, doesn't cause me any problems! He wasn't a youngster by any stretch of the imagination.
Years ago before I was diagnosed or had problems I visited the Manchester Museum of Science & Industry, where they have (or did have) a working cotton mill. As soon as I entered the room I had to leave again, was choking me straightaway, so there was definitely something not right as everyone else was ok. That was about 30 years ago. xxx
libby7827 ..... It'd be well worth you getting a home testing kit for Alpha-1 AD.
Yes, you can inherit lung problems ....... & worse still, you can pass them on to future generations.
For Info. click this:
alpha-1foundation.org/what-...
For a home test kit (just a little prick on the finger) ... 
alpha1.org.uk/index.php/req...
Thank you very much for that info. Will be getting in touch with them straightway. Libby x
Thanks Libby. I will carry on trying to prove my case.
I have sarcoid, bronchiectasis, pf, aspergillus. When I was young, in the 60's, i worked in a bookbinders. We used to swallow so much paper dust. Even our tea was covered in dust. We didn't get tea breaks so it was either drink it or do without. They got away with murder in those days. M xx
Thanks Mocarey. Will carry on trying to prove my case.
My husbands COPD has always been blamed on smoking but he did a lot of woodwork when he was younger - he never used a mask, did a lot of work in lofts - never wore a mask and was very involved in electronics - soldering, never used a mask. He is convinced the it is as much environmental as smoking and I have to agree. TAD xx
I grew up with textiles & the constant fumes of a nasty now banned chemical called percholorethylene ..... used in the dry-cleaning industry. It was in the home all the time - my parents were in the dry-cleaning industry & we lived above the shop. Both my parents were chesty, both smoked & both died of cancer.
My first job was as an apprentice boiler service engineer, huge industrial boilers that we had to climb into.
When I was first diagnosed with COPD I naturally assumed it would be the textile dust or the cleaning fluid or the boiler soot or the asbestos we used on the boilers.
After intensive tests it turned out it was inherited - I am what is known as Alpha1 AD - to put it in it's simplest form, it's a protein deficiency passed down from my parents.
..... Not quite was I was expecting.
I worked in textiles for 20 years and believe it has contributed to my copd, I was a smoker but my father and grandmother had chest problems so it also could be genetic, if the weakness is there then we are more prone to getting copd, some people to quick to blame smoking, My cousin passed away 2 years ago at 62 of lung cancer and never smoked but worked making sued and leather clothing, fabrics again!!
Take care Jude x
It seems that any fine dust/fibres can be a cause of COPD, smoking is a biggie, smoking happy fags is becoming a big problem with the younger gen as it burns at a higher temp so is causing damage quicker. Living next or near main roads Motorways etc. will all put those nasties into your lungs.
I worked in a family business for over 22 years and we cut MDF, Timber, laminates and asbestos on a circular saw with no extractors or masks!
Hi I worked for 45 year in machining dresses skirts I've never smoked and was only diagnosed 18 months ago with COPD, I to think it was all the dust that was flying around you never wore masks, I don't think I could claim now has I'm to old Bliss x
I believe you can claim up to 2/3 years after diagnosis. Give it a try?
I grew up in London and in the winter we had AWFUL smogs...you could not see even a few feet in front of you, all up your nose would be black from breathing it in. It stayed like that every winter until they passed the clean air act...which forbade the use of coal in fires and furnaces ....this may be where my broch first started as a baby...who knows?
Ah Sohara, those dirty white days when every was told to go home if the smog fell in the afternoon and then all the buses stopped half way home when it was thought to be dangerous to go further. Ever vehicle stopped where they were. My friends and I would all hold hands for the rest of the journey on foot. It always took 3-4 hours for us all to get to my house. I would have to put up about a dozen friends! Sara x
My friend did smoke but she also works in a cloths shop they are full of dust and she has regular flair ups
hi i am the same never smoke and was told about 8 month ago that i had COPD
i have beened a cleaner for 13 years working with cleaning Chemical amd inhalering fumes or could it be my ALPHA 1 X
Hi,
I saw your post and really wanted to help. I'm in a similar situation, but for a different disease. I have fertility problems, and I believe they were caused by the fact that my Doctor mistook my symptoms for Irritable Bowel Syndrome! Like you, I am dealing with a Hospital, and Doctors who disagree, and say this cannot be fully proven. I can totally empathise with the frustration and distress you may be experiencing as a result of such attitudes - even if I'm not struggling with exactly the same illness. It really annoys me. I reckon that some Hospitals/Doctors and also some Employers automatically go on the defensive if they think a patient may have a complaint or claim against them!
Anyway, I do have respiratory problems too (Chronic Asthma and recurrent respiratory infections), so I read up on things quite a bit. With having Endometriosis and M.E. as well, I need to try to keep my respiratory issues well under control!
I came across these articles, which I think may possibly be of some help to you. One of them even states clearly that people who work with COTTON FIBRE may be at GREATER RISK of contracting COPD! So, that may be the way to link COPD with textile factory work. Another couple of articles that I have found for you state that people who come into contact with CHEMICALS (including dyes used on fabrics), and with DUST (including dust trapped in or on clothing) can make them more at risk of COPD.
The articles can be found at the following webpages:
everydayhealth.com/copd/cop...
also...
hesperian.org/wp-content/up...
and...
european-lung-foundation.or...
It may help to print these off, to use as references. Also, DO seek the assistance of a reputable Solicitor, who is familiar with industrial diseases. Finally, bear in mind that, as you have not been a smoker, one of the MAIN causes of COPD has ALREADY BEEN RULED OUT in your case! If smoking is not the cause for the COPD that you suffer from, SOMETHING ELSE must be - and it would make perfect sense to investigate whether this was your WORKING ENVIRONMENT.
Good luck, and I hope I may have been of some help to you. It is ever so frustrating to fall ill as a possible result of someone else's failings, but then have to fight to prove it. Still, it is a good start to be able to say you were never a smoker!
Best wishes,
E. x
Hello E -
Thank you for all this useful information and I am sorry to hear about your illnesses as well. I can sympathise with you as I have suffered from endometriosis, fibroids and also have IBS, the IBS only appearing after a hysterectomy! I will let you know how things go and if I can be of any help to you please let me know.
Take care and many thanks.
S.
I would think that any foreign substance you take in while working is cause for lung issues, more so if the company didn't supply you with any kind of mask or ventilation. My husband is having the same issues not for breathing but for knee replacements. Our lawyer said because he worked in a factory where he walked or stood on a concrete floor for 8 or more hours a day he would have a case because he's done that for 20 years and it's a lot of wear on your joints. Find a new lawyer / solicitor and let him send you to doctors that HE regularly uses. It'll be a whole new ballgame. You'll get better treatment and monetary compensation. I would give you the name of mine, but I am in the States. :/
Hi dustbunny
Many thanks for this. I now have several options and will make a decision soon as to where to go from here. My Solicitor did recommend I try to claim under the Industrial Injuries scheme even though COPD is not a recognised industrial injury. Perhaps if I was lucky enough to be accepted maybe this could lead to a claim against my employer. (This would rock the boat as my employer doesn't yet know about my illness!) There are also "No win, no fee" lawyers but I believe that if you lose the case you have to pay the other party's costs. This could lead to huge fees.
Do hope your husband receives his knee replacements soon and that he gets his compensation.
Thanks again for your advice.
greyhound lady
You're very welcome, and best of luck to you. I think a company would recognize it if you can prove the COPD was irritated by the environment in which you were working, and the company didn't offer any protective equipment for daily use. Just do your homework and look for a lawyer that is familiar or regularly works in industrial cases. Keep me posted, I would like to hear how this pans out!
Will do. Thanks dustbunny.
I worked with materials that gave off carbon fibres for years. My consultant asked me if I had ever worked with hazardous materials and agreed this would have contributed to my problems. As I worked in the family business I could hardly sue ourselves. Good luck keep pushing your case.
I was diagnosed with COPD in 1997 and was told it was due to smoking . At that time I worked in the Dye ing and bleaching industry and was in contact with acids , (no masks were ever supplied ) I did smoke at the time . I was on Prednisolone for a number of years with some doctors ,but the docter I,m with now will not let me carry on with taking them
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