BACKGROUND
Types of Silica
Crystalline silica may be of several distinct types. Quartz, a form of silica and the most common mineral in the earth's crust, is associated with many types of rock. Other types of silica include cristobalite and tridymite.
Potential for Exposure During Construction
Concrete and masonry products contain silica sand and rock containing silica. Since these products are primary materials for construction, construction workers may be easily exposed to respirable crystalline silica during activities such as the following:
· Chipping, hammering, and drilling of rock
· Crushing, loading, hauling, and dumping of rock
· Abrasive blasting using silica sand as the abrasive
· Abrasive blasting of concrete (regardless of abrasive used)
· Sawing, hammering, drilling, grinding, and chipping of concrete or masonry
· Demolition of concrete and masonry structures
· Dry sweeping or pressurized air blowing of concrete, rock, or sand dust
Even materials containing small amounts of crystalline silica may be hazardous if they are used in ways that produce high dust concentrations.
HEALTH EFFECTS OF CRYSTALLINE SILICA EXPOSURE
Description of Silicosis
When workers inhale crystalline silica, the lung tissue reacts by developing fibrotic nodules and scarring around the trapped silica particles [Silicosis and Silicate Disease Committee 1988]. This fibrotic condition of the lung is called silicosis. If the nodules grow too large, breathing becomes difficult and death may result. Silicosis victims are also at high risk of developing active tuberculosis [Myers et al. 1973; Sherson and Lander 1990; Bailey et al. 1974].
A worker's lungs may react more severely to silica sand that has been freshly fractured (sawed, hammered, or treated in a way that produces airborne dust) [Vallyathan et al. 1988]. This factor may contribute to the development of acute and accelerated forms of silicosis.
Types of Silicosis
A worker may develop any of three types of silicosis, depending on the airborne concentration of crystalline silica:
Chronic silicosis, which usually occurs after 10 or more years of exposure to crystalline silica at relatively low concentrations
Accelerated silicosis, which results from exposure to high concentrations of crystalline silica and develops 5 to 10 years after the initial exposure
Acute silicosis, which occurs where exposure concentrations are the highest and can cause symptoms to develop within a few weeks to 4 or 5 years after the initial exposure [Peters 1986; Ziskind et al. 1976]
Complications
Initially, workers with silicosis may have no symptoms. As silicosis progresses, there may be difficulty in breathing and other chest symptoms such as cough.
One of the biggest problems with working in a mine is the the health risks you are taking when stepping into a mine and staying there anywhere from 10-16 hours of the day. Miners of the Gilded Age, needless to say, did not live very long at all. Some of the diseases they contracted were black lung, Silicosis, and COPD. Coal Miner’s Pneumoconiosis, more commonly referred to as Black Lung, is caused by inhaling respirable coal mine dust. Silicosis is a more specific, but yet still commonly found in coal miners, version of Black Lung caused by inhaling respirable crystalline silica, such as Quartz, a major component in rocks. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, or COPD, is still common today in people who don’t even work in mines. COPD is a progressive disease that increases airway
...d, crunchy and gritty with a thin layer of dust with every serving; from consuming such gravely meals, people often developed fragmented teeth. Driving and operating outdoor machinery became a huge hazard since the dust decreased visibility significantly. Because the dust carried so much static electricity, anything metallic – such as mills, pump handles, cooking pans, and doorknobs – would give the person in contact a harsh electric shock. Those outdoors would have to wear gas masks in order to prevent illnesses such as dust pneumonia and to prevent inhalation of dust. Dust contains a high amount of silica, but when inhaled for increasingly long periods of time, the silica began to coat the inside of the human body, unambiguously pursuing to coat the entire respiratory system. (Carson and Bonk 1). For most, the dust bowl was the most miserable time of their life.
For assignment Module 1.4, I have chosen the chemical substance of Asbestos. I have decided to select Asbestos, since I have been exposed to asbestos as young man. My father owned a construction company and during the summers, more often than not, I came into direct contact with many Asbestos products. During my time in the Air Force, I also encountered old military buildings which contained Asbestos (paint, insulation, etc.). I had a great uncle that died from mesothelioma which he caught from working as builder, before there was regulation on the use of asbestos.
to the upper body and arms. These symptoms occur after four weeks and start by
Black lung is the legal term for a man-made, occupational lung disease that is contracted by prolonged breathing of coalmine dust. Some call it miner’s asthma, silicosis, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or black lung. However, they are all dust diseases with the same symptoms.
A study was made to show the health effects workers are exposed to while working at a shoe factory. Workers are exposed to a number of different chemicals and ergonomic hazards. One of the top symptoms is the musculoskeletal, which is caused because workers are exposed to isocyanates and organic vapors without adequate protection. There is a high exposure from the inhalation of glues and solvents (Todd et al., 2007).
... in inhabitants living close to smelters and arsenical chemical factories. Citizens who live near waste sites with arsenic may have an increased risk of lung cancer as well.
Stephania A. Cornier, S. L. (2006). Origin and Helth Impacts of Emissons of Toxic By-Produts and Fine Particles from Combustion and Thermal Treatment of Hazardous Wastes. Environmental Health Perspectives, 810-817.
In tiling, all modern power tools have ventilation systems to prevent any harmful fumes harming you at work. Angle grinders have a specially designed hood to force the dust a different way, in tiling you can use this either outside or in an area with the windows open and the proper ventilation. The fumes going through an extraction system will be directed to a filter, filtering out all the harmful and toxic fumes which are harmful, then it will be put into a fan and pumped straight out the side of the building, or another safe area. These fumes can cause asthma, so using the correct extraction system and properly designed hood can prevent all these things from happening.
Fundamental studies by Stober [ ], Meyer and Heckerman [ ] , and Bering and Serpinskii [ ] indicate that silica surface consists of siloxane network in the bulk, while the hydroxyl groups are attached onto silicon atoms. However these groups are not equivalent in their adsorption or reaction behavior. Fig 1a represents a general arrangement on a silica surface. Belyakova et al. identifies that the number of hydroxyl (Silanol) group on different type of silica surfaces are same i.e. 4 -5 SiOH groups per nm2. Lange [ ] identifies that water associates with these silanol groups in two ways, by hydrogen bonding or by physically adsorbed. Dalton and Iler [ ] states that there is at least a monolyer of water immobilized on silanol groups due to hydrogen bonding, this “glassy layer” protects underlying silica network from foreign molecules. Klier and Zettlemoyer [ ] indicates that water sat “oxygen down” on silanol groups. De Boer and Vleeskens [ ] argued that around 120 oC in ambient air silica looses adsorbed water unless it is present in micropores which would otherwise tak...
The production and use of silica aerogels is nonthreatening to the environment. No considerably hazardous wastes are created during their construction. The disposal of silica aerogels is harmless. In the environment, they quickly crush into a fine powder that is basically identical to sand. Additionally, silica aerogels are completely non-toxic and non-flammable. If they eventually find their way into widespread use, they could eradicate a very large amount of unwanted, hazardous plastic materials.
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symptoms between the ages of 30 and 50, but has been known to show itself in
Technological and accidental hazards can be occur without warning and can be both hazardous material incidents and failures at nuclear power plant. In some cases, victims that have been exposed to harmful chemicals or radiation show little to no symptoms until several years later. There are an increasing number of new substances and chemicals being manufactured which has increased the likelihood of a hazardous material spill or release. This also increases the risk to the environment and to the health and safety of a community.