![]() Construction workers, managers, and equipment manufacturers urgently need information about the hazards of breathing respirable crystalline silica. Among some in the construction industry there is a lack of awareness about the sources of silica exposure, the nature of silicosis, and the causes of the disease. The following page contains recommendations for reducing workplace exposure to silica and preventing silicosis. ![]() “It is vital that government, industry, labor, and the public health community work together to help employers and workers recognize these risks and take action to avoid them.” “The human and economic costs of silicosis are unacceptable,” said NIOSH Director Linda Rosenstock, M.D., M.P.H. Even materials containing small amounts of crystalline silica may be hazardous if they are used in ways that produce high dust concentrations. In construction, workers can be easily exposed to silica when using rock containing silica or concrete and masonry products that contain silica sand when preforming such tasks as chipping, hammering, drilling, crushing, or hauling rock preforming abrasive blasting and sawing, hammering, drilling, and sweeping concrete or masonry. The disease can be progressively debilitating and fatal. Silicosis, a scarring and hardening of lung tissue, can result when particles of crystalline silica are inhaled and become embedded in the lung. The NIOSH Alert, “Request for Assistance in Preventing Silicosis and Death in Construction Workers,” details the hazards related to silica exposure among construction workers, provides prevention recommendations, and contains cases reports of construction workers who have died or are suffering from silicosis. Overall, the team concluded that “exposure to respirable silica dust increases the risk of sarcoidosis among men between 20 and 65 years of age,” and that “the risk seems to be higher among exposed men 35 years or younger and older men with longer exposure (more than 6 years).”įurther studies that take into account confounding factors such as smoking are needed to confirm the findings, they stated.Exposure to respirable crystalline silica dust during construction activities can cause serious or fatal respiratory disease.Įmployers and workers can take several steps to reduce exposures and lower risks.Įxposure to respirable crystalline silica dust during construction activities can cause silicosis - a serious and potentially fatal respiratory disease - but employers and workers can take practical steps to reduce risks, according to an Alert released by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The team suggested it could trigger an immune response in genetically predisposed people, noting that silica exposure is associated with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic scleroderma, and antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-related vasculitis. How silica dust might cause sarcoidosis remains unknown. “Exposure to respirable silica dust statistically significantly increase the sarcoidosis, but neither the cumulative nor mean exposure show a statistical significant dose–response association,” the researchers wrote. ![]() Although this risk continued to rise with 11 years of exposure or more, such increase was not statistically significant. ![]() Researchers found that two to 10 years of exposure to silica dust appeared to significantly raise the risk of sarcoidosis. For men of an age of 35 years or younger the correlation was statistically significant stronger than in older men,” researchers wrote.įor men older than 35 with exposure of more than 10 years to silica, the likelihood of developing sarcoidosis was 1.44 times higher. “Exposure to respirable silica dust seems to result in an increased risk for developing sarcoidosis in men.
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