This section covers three syndromes or diseases affecting the alveoli or interstitium of the lung: organic dust toxic syndrome (ODTS), hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), and interstitial fibrosis from mineral dusts. While ODTS is not an interstitial lung disease, it is presented in this section because of the overlap in both exposures and symptoms between ODTS and HP. Some of the dusts causing ODTS cause similar symptoms and signs in farmers or agricultural workers with HP, which is characterized by an interstitial lymphocytic pneumonitis. (The transient neutrophilic alveolitis of ODTS is not a true parenchymal disease.) Interstitial fibrosis stemming from exposure to inorganic or mineral dusts represents a true inflammatory and fibrotic reaction of the lung interstitium. The ODTS designation was proposed at a conference in 1985 (552). The name has been criticized (553), and others have been proposed (554, 555). However, the designation is retained in this document in order to avoid confusion. It is hoped that further knowledge about agents and effects may make it possible to suggest names that are more descriptive of the condition (or possibly conditions) now called ODTS. HP in agricultural workers is often called "farmer's lung," but this term has also become associated with conditions (notably, ODTS), that are not HP. Farmer's lung (in the narrow, specific sense) is one of the most prevalent forms of HP; however, HP is only one of many farm-related lung diseases. Thus, the term "farmer's lung" is necessarily confusing and needs to be reconsidered. A more appropriate term, which will be used here, is "farmer's hypersensitivity pneumonitis" (FHP). Although FHP occurs less often than other farm-related respiratory illnesses (e.g., ODTS, chronic bronchitis, and asthma), the disease is of major importance because of its severity, in terms of both permanent lung damage and psychosocial impact. Half of all FHP patients abandon farming because of their disease, and a third have permanent lung sequelae.The possibility that silica or other inorganic silicates in farm dusts in certain areas and stemming from certain farm activities might cause interstitial lung disease is a new concept that will be addressed here.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.