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Danger Dust Disease !
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Crystalline Silica Dust Kills
Are You Aware?
Silica exposure can cause autoimmune diseases such as lupus, scleroderma, and vasculitis. It can also cause silicosis, kidney disease, lung cancer, tuberculosis, and other airways diseases. Environmental exposure to silica can occur in workers and bystanders in many industries, including agriculture, construction, and potters.
Sclero.org
What is Crystalline Silica Dust ?
Silica is a natural substance found in most rocks, sand and clay and in products such as bricks and concrete. In the workplace these materials create dust when they are cut, sanded down etc. Some of this dust may be fine enough to reach deep inside the lung, this is known as respirable crystalline silica (RCS) and can cause harm to health.
Silica is synonymous with silicon dioxide (SiO2). Silicon and oxygen are the two most abundant elements in the earth’s crust. Silica is commonly found in nature as sand. Silica exists in many different forms that can be crystalline as well as non-crystalline (amorphous).
Crystalline silica is hard, chemically inert and has a high melting point. These are valued/important properties in various industrial uses.
Quartz is the most common form of crystalline silica and is the second most common mineral on the earth’s surface. It is found in almost every type of rock i.e. igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. Since it is so abundant, quartz is present in nearly all mining operations
.
Cristobalite is scarce in nature. Some volcanic rocks and meteorites may contain small amounts of it. Cristobalite may also form when quartz is heated at high temperatures starting at 450°C. This is especially true during production and use of refractory materials and/or during calcination of silica (between 800 and 1110°C). As a result, there is a likelihood of exposure to cristobalite in occupational settings
.
Tridymite is also a scarce mineral that is only found in nature in volcanic rocks and meteorites. Tridymite, however, differs from cristobalite in that it is not stable during quartz and refractory materials heating processes at conventional process temperatures. As a result, exposures are very unlikely to occur in occupational or other settings.
Types Of Dust
Fibrogenic dust, such as free crystalline silica (FCS) or asbestos, is biologically toxic and, if retained in the lungs,
can form scar tissue and impair the lungs' ability to function properly.
Nuisance dust, or inert dust, can be defined as dust that contains less than 1% quartz. Because of its low content of silicates,
nuisance dust has a long history of having little adverse effect on the lungs. Any reaction that may occur from nuisance dust is potentially reversible.
However, excessive concentrations of nuisance dust in the workplace may reduce visibility (e.g., iron oxide), may cause unpleasant deposits in eyes, cars,
and nasal passages (e.g., portland cement dust), and may cause injury to the skin or mucous membranes by chemical or mechanical action.
From an occupational health point of view, dust is classified by size into three primary categories:
Respirable Dust
Inhalable Dust
Total Dust
Respirable Dust
Respirable dust refers to those dust particles that are small enough to penetrate the nose and upper respiratory system and deep into the lungs.
Particles that penetrate deep into the respiratory system are generally beyond the body's natural clearance mechanisms of cilia and mucous and are
more likely to be retained.
Silica Dust Can Trigger Autoimmune Diseases
What is an Autoimmune Disease?
An autoimmune disease develops when your immune system, which defends your body against disease, decides your healthy cells are foreign. As a result, your immune system attacks healthy cells. Depending on the type, an autoimmune disease can affect one or many different types of body tissue. It can also cause abnormal organ growth and changes in organ function.
There are as many as 80 types of autoimmune diseases. Many of them have similar symptoms, which makes them very difficult to diagnose. It’s also possible to have more than one at the same time. Autoimmune diseases usually fluctuate between periods of remission (little or no symptoms) and flare-ups (worsening symptoms). Currently, treatment for autoimmune diseases focuses on relieving symptoms because there is no curative therapy.
How Does Silica Trigger Autoimmune Disease ?
Silica can trigger autoimmune diseases via production of autoantibodies
We describe a case of pulmonary silicosis complicated by microscopic polyangiitis.
We report a case of pulmonary silicosis with P-ANCA associated microscopic polyangiitis.
Our case is unique in that both diagnoses are definitively proven histologically.
Exposure to silica should be considered in the history of patients with autoimmune diseases.
Furthermore patients with pulmonary silicosis may develop ANCA-associated vasculitis
in extrapulmonary sites.
http://journal.publications.chestnet.org/article.aspx?articleid=1213693
Silica Exposure and Systemic Vasculitis
Work in Department of Energy (DOE) facilities has exposed workers to multiple toxic agents leading to acute and chronic diseases. Many exposures were common to numerous work sites. Exposure to crystalline silica was primarily restricted to a few facilities. I present the case of a 63-year-old male who worked in DOE facilities for 30 years as a weapons testing technician. In addition to silica, other workplace exposures included beryllium, various solvents and heavy metals, depleted uranium, and ionizing radiation. In 1989 a painful macular skin lesion was biopsied and diagnosed as leukocytoclastic vasculitis. By 1992 he developed gross hematuria and dyspnea. Blood laboratory results revealed a serum creatinine concentration of 2.1 mg/dL, ethrythrocyte sedimentation rate of 61 mm/hr, negative cANCA (antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody cytoplasmic pattern), positive pANCA (ANCA perinuclear pattern), and antiglomerular basement membrane negative. Renal biopsy showed proliferative (crescentric) and necrotizing glomerulonephritis. The patient's diagnoses included microscopic polyangiitis, systemic necrotizing vasculitis, leukocytoclastic vasculitis, and glomerulonephritis. Environmental triggers are thought to play a role in the development of an idiopathic expression of systemic autoimmune disease. Crystalline silica exposure has been linked to rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus, rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis and some of the small vessel vasculitides. DOE workers are currently able to apply for compensation under the federal Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICP). However, the only diseases covered by EEOICP are cancers related to radiation exposure, chronic beryllium disease, and chronic silicosis.
Discover the world's research
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8583405_Silica_Exposure_and_Systemic_Vasculitis
Lupus
Pulmonary silicosis and systemic lupus erythematosus in men:
a report of two cases.
Costallat LT1, De Capitani EM, Zambon L.
Author information
Abstract
We report two cases of coexistence of pulmonary silicosis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The patients are two men with SLE exposed to silica for 20 years. The hypothesis that silica exposure is linked to a wide variety of known or suspected autoimmune diseases, including SLE, has been discussed in the last decade but few cases of pulmonary silicosis and SLE were reported. Our purpose was to bring attention to the increasing evidence that silica may also cause or stimulate SLE, and to suggest that the researchers look for occupational exposure, mainly in male SLE patients.
PMID: 11858360
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11858360
Scleroderma
The repeated occurrence of a very rare disease, at least three times more common in women, in males occupationally exposed to silica is suggestive of a causal association. What is striking in the literature on scleroderma reviewed for this report is the repetition of the association between this disease and an occupational history of exposure to free silica and/or vibratory tools.
Industrial Disease Standards Panel (ODP), IDSP Report of Findings No. 8, Toronto, Ontario.
Occupational exposure to silica is a known cause of scleroderma. It is legally recognized as an occupational disease in many countries, including the United States. Scleroderma predominantly affects women. A striking finding is that when scleroderma occurs in men, it is often due to occupational exposure, such as to silica.
SCLERO.ORG
Silica-induced scleroderma.
In a survey done in East Germany between 1981 and 1988, we found that 93 of 120 male scleroderma patients had long-term exposure to silica dust.
We describe our findings in 12 patients with scleroderma and silicosis. The exposure time to silica dust was between 3 and 34 years; the interval between the beginning of exposure and the onset of scleroderma averaged 27.3 years (range 9 to 40 years). Antinuclear antibodies in titers between 80 and 10,240 with nucleolar and/or speckled patterns were found in 10 patients, antibodies against double-stranded DNA in three,
Scl-70 (topoisomerase I) in three, and anticentromere antibodies in five. The following markers of collagen metabolism were increased in serum: beta-galactosidase in 12 patients, laminin peptide-P1 in 10 patients, N-terminal procollagen type III peptide in 10, and urinary sialic acid excretion
in 7. We propose that crystalline particles of silica less than 5 microns may be phagocytosed by macrophages and release lymphokines and monokines, which activate fibroblasts and enhance their collagen and glycosaminoglycan synthesis.
In addition, silica may act as an adjuvant to increase immune reactivity.
Kidney disease and arthritis in a cohort study of workers exposed to silica.
These data represent the largest number of kidney disease cases analyzed to date in a cohort with well-defined silica exposure and suggest a causal link between silica and kidney disease. Excess risk of end-stage renal disease due to a lifetime of occupational exposure at currently recommended limits is estimated to be 14%, above a background end-stage renal disease risk of 2%.
One agent, many diseases: exposure-response data and comparative risks of different outcomes following silica exposure.
Evidence in recent years indicates that silica causes lung cancer, and probably renal disease, in addition to its well-known relationship to silicosis. There is also suggestive evidence that silica can cause arthritis and other auto-immune diseases. Silica has, therefore, joined a handful of other toxic exposures such as tobacco smoke, dioxin, and asbestos which cause multiple serious diseases.
CONCLUSIONS:
Keeping in mind that the usual OSHA acceptable excess risk of serious disease or death for workers is 0.1%, it is clear that the current standard is far from sufficiently protective of workers' health. Perhaps surprisingly, kidney disease emerges as perhaps a higher risk than either mortality from silicosis or lung cancer, although the data are based on fewer studies.
TAKE-HOME MESSAGE
● Kidneys are particularly susceptible to the toxic effects of heavy metals, organic solvents and silica.
● It is important to identify occupation related renal diseases in order to provide ideal preventive protection to exposed workers
.
● Silica exposure is associated with excess mortality from acute renal disease and can also be associated with an increased risk of end-stage renal disease.
● Silica exposure has been linked to several multisystem autoimmune diseases.
● The main goal at all stages follows the basic principle of removing the source of exposure in order to minimize the disease progression.
Reviews of exposure-related renal disease, such as the present article, highlight the importance of a thorough
occupational history in all patients with renal disease, with particular emphasis on exposure to silica, heavy metals, and solvents
http://www.theijoem.com/ijoem/index.php/ijoem/article/viewFile/45/93
Glomerulonephritis
Therefore silica seems to cause glomerulonephritis by disrupting the immune response.
Including this case mentioned above, we have experienced 10 cases of MPO-ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis,
at least 3 cases out of which had suffered from silicosis in the past (30%) .
These results indicate that silicosis should be considered a relevant pathogen of
MPO-ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis beyond the race.
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jpnjnephrol1959/43/4/43_4_351/_article
Raynaud's Phenomenon
People can also get Raynaud's phenomenon because of certain underlying diseases (e.g. scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis or lupus) or injuries.
This form is known as "secondary Raynaud's phenomenon."
Within the workplace, several hazards can cause secondary Raynaud's phenomenon. Exposure to vibration from power tools is by far the greatest concern. Hand-held power tools such as chain saws, jackhammers and pneumatic rock drillers and chippers can cause "hand-arm vibration syndrome." This disorder is also known as "vibration-induced white finger", "hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS)", or "Raynaud's phenomenon of occupational origin." Raynaud's phenomenon, however, is only one aspect of the hand-arm vibration syndrome. Vibration also damages nerves, muscles, bones and joints of the hand and arm.
In early years, before the cancer-causing effects of vinyl chloride were known, workers exposed to high levels of this chemical experienced Raynaud's phenomenon. It also caused breakdown of the bones of the fingertips, and other health problems. Raynaud's phenomenon from vinyl chloride is now an unlikely occurrence in Canada since exposure to this chemical is controlled much better than in the past.
Raynaud's phenomenon is also seen in typists and professional pianists from repeated finger stress, as well as in dentists and dental technicians. Frostbite injury with damage to the blood vessels can also cause Raynaud's phenomenon. A single study reports that fish plant workers developed Raynaud's phenomenon after continually chilling and rewarming their hands several times a day over a period of years.
A few studies have suggested that gripping a hand tool too tightly could cause Raynaud's phenomenon. Other isolated studies have identified Raynaud's phenomenon in workers who injured their hands by using them for hammering, or pushing or twisting heavy objects. In these cases, Raynaud's phenomenon was part of a disorder called hypothenar hammer syndrome.
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