While carpet manufacturing might appear to be an industry with few hazards, studies indicate otherwise. To fully understand these hazards, it is worthwhile to visit manufacturing sites and review all of the steps in the process. In 2009 as a Fulbright Scholar teaching at Kathmandu University, I had an opportunity to do just that with some of my students.

Let me lead you on a visit through the process using pictures from GoodWeave’s archives and supplementary photos.

Carpet Making and Occupational Hazards: A Photo Essay

By William S. Carter, Ph.D.

Above: men at a loom, GoodWeave.

These are often raised by individual herders in remote areas where the soil and rock easily break down, resulting in some of the minerals being entrained in the shorn wool coat or fleece. Oils and lanolin are also absorbed by the wool fibers, giving the fleece its name “grease wool.” Manure and other organic matter may also be attached to the fibers.

Wool most often comes from sheep, goats or yaks, which graze in the hill country or Himalayas in Nepal.

At left: goat herding in Nepal, from Flickr user Happy Sleepy. Above: GoodWeave inspector with a ram outside of a factory in Nepal.

Next the wool is skirted, removing visible contaminants and sorted into coarse and fine, long and short fibers, and washed with water and potentially soap, detergents or even acids.

Clockwise from top left: sheep sheering from Flickr user delayed gratification; raw wool from Flickr user Toronto Rob; raw wool in soaping process from Flickr user AnnaKika.

The wool is then carded, a process that uses combs to separate and orient fibers into a “card.” The wool card is then rolled on large spools to prepare the wool yarn.

Research has shown that the dust in carding and combing operations often contains potentially harmful contaminants like silica dust, heavy metals, fungi or bio-aerosols containing potentially harmful endotoxins.

Finally, the wool fibers are spun into yarn.

Clockwise from top: carding wool, provided by Stephanie Odegard Collection; spinning wool, by Flickr user jamescastle; carded wool ready for spinning, GoodWeave.

A lot of wool fiber is released in the air during each of these steps. Most workers will note a scratchy throat or cough, even if they have just been in the industry a short time. Imagine doing this work for a lifetime, starting as a child!

As the yarn is spun, it is wound onto cones or into skeins for dyeing.

Image: winding onto cones, by U. Roberto Romano, from the GoodWeave photo exhibit Faces of Freedom.

There are a variety of dyeing methods. Natural dyeing primarily uses botanical materials with compounds called mordants to help set the dye, some of which are toxic. Synthetic dyes include acid, lanaset, vinyl sulfone, and synthetic indigo or vat dyes. All dyes can produce volatile toxic chemicals that may irritate the lungs and skin, and in some cases have more long lasting or chronic effects. Proper ventilation is required to avoid inhaling the vapors while dyeing. The wastewater from the dye baths must also be treated to avoid contaminating streams and drinking water.

At right: wool dyeing, by U. Roberto Romano, from the GoodWeave photo exhibit Faces of Freedom.

Now the yarn is ready for weaving—which has several associated hazards. Ms. Tripti Prajapati, a Kathmandu University student, identified several physical hazards in a typical Kathmandu carpet factory. Workers experience cuts, sores, and hand and joint strain from the prolonged use of scissors and hammers to cut and tamp the fibers during the weaving process. The repetitive motion associated with moving the shuttle (a spindle-shaped device used to carry the horizontal threads, or weft, through the vertical threads, or warp) can also result in musculoskeletal disorders.

Top to bottom: weaving, by U. Roberto Romano, from the GoodWeave photo exhibit Faces of Freedom; hand of a carpet weaver, by David L. Parker, MD.

Workers often sit on boards with no back support, resulting in poor posture and swollen legs. Proper ergonomically designed seating arrangements can relieve these problems.

After the weaving is completed, the carpet is trimmed to remove any excess threads. One of the final steps is washing the carpet. While this may seem to be rather innocuous, often some of the dye washes off during this process, resulting in water contamination.

Left to right: Men weaving, GoodWeave; carpet washing, by U. Roberto Romano, from the GoodWeave photo exhibit Faces of Freedom.

Wool dust is the greatest chronic hazard in carpet making, leading to serious respiratory problems. We tested the pulmonary function of workers at facilities where families lived on site and children ran freely throughout. Several experienced workers had pulmonary function at less than two-thirds of the expected values. This disease is indistinguishable from byssinosis, a disease common in the cotton manufacturing industry. Endotoxins are speculated to be a contributing factor towards byssinosis. It has been observed that carpet workers are more susceptible to tuberculosis and may be more susceptible to lung cancer. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.

Air contamination problems can be overcome with two relatively inexpensive practices. One is regularly cleaning and removing dust from machines and surfaces with a vacuum (not a broom or air blower). Secondly, workers who are carding, spinning or weaving in confined spaces should wear a disposable mask. These two simple measures will protect both the workers and their children, who often live and play nearby.

Above: weavers at looms, GoodWeave.

—William S. Carter, Ph.D. is an Emeritus Professor of Environmental Management at the University of Findlay, where he taught primarily Occupational Health and Epidemiology courses. In 2009 he introduced the first course in Occupational Hygiene in Nepal at Kathmandu University as a Fulbright Scholar, in addition to his research on occupational hazards in the rug industry, noise pollution and other topics.

Above: William S. Carter with Kathmandu University students.