What Is Silicosis

Silicosis is caused by exposure to respirable crystalline silica dust. Crystalline silica is a basic component of soil, sand, granite, and most other types of rock, and it is used as an abrasive blasting agent. Silicosis is a progressive, disabling, and often fatal lung disease. Cigarette smoking adds to the lung damage caused by silica.
 

Effects of Silicosis

• Lung cancer – Silica has been classified as a human lung carcinogen.
• Bronchitis/Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder.
• Tuberculosis – Silicosis makes an individual more susceptible to TB.
• Scleroderma – a disease affecting skin, blood vessels, joints and skeletal muscles.
• Possible renal disease. 
 

Symptoms of Silicosis

• Shortness of breath; possible fever.
• Fatigue; loss of appetite.
• Chest pain; dry, nonproductive cough.
• Respiratory failure, which may eventually lead to death.

Types of Silicosis

Chronic/Classic Silicosis, the most common, occurs after 15–20 years of moderate to low exposures to respirable crystalline silica. Symptoms associated with chronic silicosis may or may not be obvious; therefore, workers need to have a chest x-ray to determine if there is lung damage. As the disease progresses, the worker may experience shortness of breath upon exercising and have clinical signs of poor oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange. In the later stages, the worker may experience fatigue, extreme shortness of breath, chest pain, or respiratory failure.

 
Accelerated Silicosis can occur after 5–10 years of high exposures to respirable crystalline silica. Symptoms include severe shortness of breath, weakness, and weight loss. The onset of symptoms takes longer than in acute silicosis.
 

Acute Silicosis occurs after a few months or as long as 2 years following exposures to extremely high concentrations of respirable crystalline silica. Symptoms of acute silicosis include severe disabling shortness of breath, weakness and weight loss which often leads to death.

What Is Silicosis – Resources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicosis
• http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/silicosis/overview.html
• http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Silicosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx