Fabrics come with chemicals and dye on them so I assume that the lint and dust would also have those chemicals, too. I always wash my fabric before handling it much not only to get the chemicals out but to let it shrink if it's going to and bleed if it's going to. Then I press it with Mary Ellen's Best Press to give body back to the fabric. Sorry you ar coughing. My friend used fabric a while back that made her hands break out and blister like poison ivy.