Effect of Silica Exposure

Exposure to silica causes many dangerous diseases. Tuberculosis, Renal Diseases, Silicosis, Scleroderma, Autoimmune Disorders etc. List of diseases caused by silica exposure is never ending and terrifying too. Approximately 1.7 million workers are exposed to silica everyday. It is a growing concern for lawyers and doctors.

Silica

Silica is the second most commonly used mineral in the world. It is crystalline in appearance and is easily inhaled through lungs. It is found in rocks, sand and mineral ore. Prolonged exposure of silica leads to the formation of scar tissues in the lungs. Following are the job sited where silica is found:

Railroad and shipyards
Ceramics and pottery factories
Stone work sites
Soap and detergent plants
Mines
Construction sites involved in drilling or sand blasting
Glass factories
Foundries

Silicosis

Though silicosis is preventable, more than 270 workers exposed to silica die every year. It can be said that silicosis is a silent killer because many times it takes as many as 20 years to manifest. As Silicosis is a lung disease, its symptoms include severe cough, shortness of breath, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite and chest pains. Moreover, lungs exposure to silica causes an autoimmune disorder. Due to autoimmune disorder workers are at the risk of other lung diseases like tuberculosis and pneumonia.

There are three types of silicosis:

Acute silicosis (it develops within weeks or five and ten years of silica exposure)
Chronic silicosis (it develops after more than a decade exposure of silica)
Accelerated silicosis (it develops between five to ten years of exposure to silica )

MSHA and OSHA health rules are applied to the worksites exposed to silica. The maximum amount of silica exposure for an eight-hour shift is set up by OSHA. According to the MSHA and OSHA rules, employers should provide measures to prevent exposure to silica. These safety measures include providing respiratory safety equipments to workers, proper record keeping and giving warnings to workers working at silica dust sites. Workers who are exposed to silica dust should take proper precaution against silicosis.