One
on the major complaints made by factory reformers concerned the state
of the buildings that they children were forced to work in. A report
published in July 1833 stated that most factories were "dirty;
low-roofed; ill-ventilated; ill-drained; no conveniences for washing
or dressing; no contrivance for carrying off dust and other effluvia".
Sir Anthony Carlile, a doctor at Westminster Hospital visited some
textile mills in 1832. He later gave evidence to the House of Commons
on the dangers that factory pollution was causing for the young people
working in factories: "labour is undergone in an atmosphere heated
to a temperature of 70 to 80 and upwards". He pointed out that
going from a "very hot room into damp cold air will inevitably
produce inflammations of the lungs".
Doctors were also concerned about the "dust from flax and the
flue from cotton" in the air that the young workers were breathing
in. Dr. Charles Aston Key told Michael Sadler
that this "impure air breathed for a great length of time must
be productive of disease, or exceedingly weaken the body". Dr.
Thomas Young who studied textile workers in Bolton reported that factory
pollution was causing major health problems.
Most young workers complained of feeling sick during their first few
weeks of working in a factory. Robert Blincoe
said he felt that the dust and flue was suffocating him. This initial
reaction to factory pollution became known as mill fever. Symptoms
included sickness and headaches.
The dust and floating cotton fibre in the atmosphere was a major factor
in the high incidence of tuberculosis, bronchitis, asthma and byssinosis
amongst cotton workers.
Child
Labour Debate Activity (International School of Toulouse)
Child
Labour Simulation (Spartacus Educational)
