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Environment-Friendly Machine Tools and Operations
Published in Helmi Youssef, Hassan El-Hofy, Non-Traditional and Advanced Machining Technologies, 2020
The major risk from silica dust is silicosis, which is a chronic disease that causes stiffening and scarring of the lungs. Symptoms usually take a number of years to appear. They include shortness of breath, coughing, and chest pain. This leads to degeneration in the individual’s health. The risk of disease is directly related to the amount of dust inhaled. There is some evidence that people with silicosis have an increased risk of developing lung cancer.
Toxic Responses of the Lung
Published in Stephen K. Hall, Joana Chakraborty, Randall J. Ruch, Chemical Exposure and Toxic Responses, 2020
Silicosis is a pathological condition of the lungs resulting from the inhalation of particulate matter containing free silica (SO2). It is important to distinguish between silica in the free state as silicon dioxide and in the combined state as the various silicates. Silicosis is prevalent in many industries, and of all the pneumoconioses, it claims the largest number of victims. Silicosis is generally divided into three stages: slight, moderate, and severe. The first stage, so-called simple silicosis, supervenes in a worker who has been exposed to free silica dust for many years. The onset of symptoms is marked by dyspnea on exertion, slight at first and later increasing in severity. Cough may be present and is usually unproductive. Impairment of working capacity is slight or absent. In the second stage, dyspnea and cough become established and further physical signs appear. Some degree of impairment of working capacity begins to develop. In the third stage, dyspnea progresses to total incapacity. Right heart hypertrophy and then failure may supervene. The concentrations of dust that can be inhaled without danger vary according to the nature of the dust and also to the length of time during which it is breathed. Intermittent exposure to high concentrations of dust may be more dangerous than exposure to lower concentrations of dust over a longer time period. The harder the work, the more deeply a worker will have to breathe; in consequence, that worker will inhale more dust. Individuals also vary greatly in their capacity to respond to inhaled dusts.
Inhalation Toxicology
Published in Ronald Scott, of Industrial Hygiene, 2018
Silicosis is a fibrosis of the lungs caused by inhaling respirable particles (>5 μm) of silica (SiO2) over a long time period. Phagocytic cells in the alveolus engulf these particles and die, silica being toxic to them. The digestive enzymes released by these cells on death damage lung tissue, leading to scarring (fibrosis). Victims of silicosis have few symptoms in early stages, but display silicotic nodules in chest X-rays (simple nodular silicosis). In advanced cases where there is loss of functional lung mass, the victim experiences shortness of breath and coughs sputum. Now X-rays reveal large areas of scarred tissue (conglomerate silicosis). The symptoms develop slowly and may therefore be missed. If the victim is a smoker, the symptoms may be misinterpreted as being the result of tobacco use. Infections of the lung are common, and the victim is more likely to develop tuberculosis.
Occupational exposure to crystalline silica in artificial stone processing
Published in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 2021
Fabiola Salamon, Andrea Martinelli, Liviano Vianello, Rosana Bizzotto, Ottorino Gottardo, Gabriella Guarnieri, Antonia Franceschi, Stefano Porru, Lorenzo Cena, Mariella Carrieri
During the past decade, an increased number of silicosis cases were reported in these manufacturing setting. The first report of artificial stone-associated silicosis was published in Spain in 2010, where three cases of silicosis were highlighted in young workers involved in the installation of quartz agglomerate surfaces in buildings and exposed to high levels of aerosolized silica during the decoration and installation phases of countertops for bathrooms and kitchens (Martínez et al. 2010). Since that publication, other cases have been reported in Spain and in other countries such as Israel, Italy, Australia, the United States, Belgium, and China (García Vadillo et al. 2011; Bartoli et al. 2012; Kramer et al. 2012; Friedman et al. 2015; Paolucci et al. 2015; Hoy et al. 2018; Ronsmans et al. 2019; Rose et al. 2019; Guarnieri et al. 2020; Wu et al. 2020). Because silicosis is an irreversible progressive and potentially fatal disease with no effective treatment, prevention through exposure control is fundamental.
Physical and chemical characterization of McIntyre Powder: An aluminum dust inhaled by miners to combat silicosis
Published in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 2019
Andrew Zarnke, Pat E. Rasmussen, Marie-Odile David, Housam Eidi, Konnor Kennedy, Kevin Hedges, Todd Irick, Christopher Thome, Jake Pirkkanen, Douglas Boreham
In the 1930s, the Canadian mining industry experienced a growing number of chronic lung diseases being reported in uranium and gold mine workers. The most prevalent lung disease was silicosis, a chronic fibrosis of the lung caused by the inhalation of crystalline silica dust.[1,2] The notion of using a fine aluminum powder for the treatment of silicosis was first published in 1937 as a preliminary report which was followed by a full report in 1939.[3,4] In the reports by Denny et al.,4 the authors proposed that aluminum reduced the solubility of crystalline silica in the lung and formed a coating around silica particles to aid their clearance from the lung. Early in the 1940s, the McIntyre Research Foundation was formed to investigate possible preventative treatments for lung disease such as silicosis, which prompted the establishment of the Porcupine Silicosis Clinic in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, which conducted the first human trials using aluminum dust to treat silicosis. The fine aluminum powder now called “McIntyre Powder” officially came into use in December 1943 at the McIntyre Porcupine mine in Timmins, Ontario. The McIntyre Research Foundation developed, patented and produced the McIntyre Powder (MP) and distributed it to licensees in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Chile, Belgian Congo, and Western Australia.
Influence of quartz exposure on lung cancer types in cases of lymph node–only silicosis and lung silicosis in German uranium miners
Published in Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 2018
Stefan Mielke, Dirk Taeger, Kerstin Weitmann, Thomas Brüning, Wolfgang Hoffmann
Silicosis as an occupational disease is caused by inhaled crystalline silica dust (ie, quartz dust). While amorphous silica has no influence on the development of silicosis, crystalline silica causes silicosis and lung cancer.16 Therefore, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified crystalline silica as a human (Group 1) carcinogen.17 The related typical fibrotic lung parenchyma changes are of a wide variety—from simple, nodular lesions to massive lung fibrosis.10,18,19 Other diseases are also associated with silica dust exposure: tuberculosis,20–22 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),10,23–25 and maybe ANCA- (antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies, a group of proteins in autoimmune diseases) positive vasculitis.26–29