Silica is a Worry Beyond Just the Workplace

The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is kicking sand these days. No, not like in the old advertisements in which a burly hunk at the beach kicked sand at a skinny weakling. OSHA is kicking sand in the form of crystalline silica dust. The problem is that crystalline silica causes a debilitating lung disease called silicosis, a disease that is preventable.

Crystalline silica comes from sand, quartz and granite rock that is thrown into the air in jobs such as drilling, grinding, sandblasting, rock crushing, rock mining and concrete demolishing. If you've ever seen television coverage of a high-rise being felled by blasting, you know what kind of dust gets thrown up. People in the construction industry and people who do metal casting foundry work are among those exposed to silica dust. So are those in glass manufacturing, stone product production, asphalt paving-material manufacturing and in onion and potato processing. (Don't ask me why. I don't know.)

Inhaling silica dust has been associated with lung cancer and tuberculosis. The National Institute for Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates that two million workers are exposed to crystalline silica each year and that about 300 die from silicosis.

Early stages of silicosis often go unnoticed but continued exposure may cause shortness of breath, possible fever and sometimes bluish ear lobes or lips. Fatigue, extreme shortness of breath, loss of appetite and chest pain occur down the road. Respiratory failure, which can cause death, may occur. Silicosis is not a disease you want to fool with.

OSHA's plan of attack against silicosis in the workplace involves a set of recommendations to reduce exposure. Eliminate silica at its source by reducing use of substances that contain silica. Use and properly maintain dust control systems. Wear disposable or washable personal protective clothing. Shower and change into clean clothes before leaving the worksite so you don't contaminate your car and home. (Wives have been known to get asbestosis — another lung disease — from breathing asbestos fibers brought home on their husband's clothing.) Use respiratory protection. Post warning signs to make workers aware of areas contaminated by silica. Give medical examinations and train workers.

Okay. What does all of this have to do with the environment outside of the work environment?

Well, crystalline silica or something close enough is present in the general environment too. Drive a dusty road in the American West sometime without your windows rolled up and with your air intake snugged down tightly. Cough! Cough!