Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage-Earners in the United States #249050

The term cotton-mill anemia is not in general use in medical literature, but is not infrequently heard in certain parts Of the United States. It is adopted in this report for the reason that it is the only term with which I have become familiar as applied to the particular cases under discussion as found in the mills. That there is a widespread and in numerous cases a severe anemia found among the cotton-mill hands Of certain districts is and must be frankly admitted by any fair-minded investigator who studies any large number of mills in the States involved. Opinion has, however, differed as to the cause of the condition. Among the explanations as to its cause may be mentioned the following in particular: Poor food, poor ventilation, long hours of work, beginning work too young, use Of tobacco (including snuff), and especially breathing m the cotton lint. In discussing the subject with various persons, including the mill hands themselves, the cotton-lint hypothesis has been presented to me more frequently than have all other explanations combined.