Silica/Crystalline

Kayla Bunnell

Silica/Crystalline
Crystalline silica is an important industrial material found mainly in the earths crust. Quartz, the most
common form of silica, is made of sand, stone, rock, concrete, brick, block, and mortar. Materials
containing quartz are found in a wide variety of workplaces.Silica dust is hazardous when very small
particles are inhaled. These respirable dust particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause
disabling and sometimes fatal lung diseases.

OSHA Standards
General Industry (29 CFR 1910)

1910.94, Ventilation

1910.1000, Air contaminants

Table Z-3, Mineral dusts
Maritime (29 CFR 1915)

1915.34, Mechanical paint removers

1915.1000, Air contaminants

Construction Industry (29 CFR 1926)

1926.55, Gases, vapors, fumes, dusts, and mists

Appendix A, Gases, vapors, fumes, dusts, and mists

1926.57, Ventilation

Safety and Health Hazards

Silica exposure remains a serious threat to nearly 2 million U.S. workers, including more than 100,000
workers in high risk jobs such as abrasive blasting, foundry work, stone cutting, rock drilling, quarry work
and tunneling. Crystalline silica has been classified as a human lung carcinogen. Additionally, breathing
crystalline silica dust can cause silicosis, which in severe cases can be disabling, or even fatal. The
respirable silica dust enters the lungs and causes the formation of scar tissue, thus reducing the lungs
ability to take in oxygen. There is no cure for silicosis. Since silicosis affects lung function, it makes one more
susceptible to lung infections like tuberculosis.Inhaling crystalline silica can also lead to lung cancer,
tuberculosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition, silica exposure has been linked
to other illnesses including renal disease and other cancers.

Who is at risk
the most?
Anyone who works around:

Construction

Glass products

Pottery products

Structural clay products

Concrete products

Foundries

Dental laboratories

Paintings and coatings

Ready-mix concrete

Cut stone and stone products

Refractory installation and repair

Railroad track maintenance

Hydraulic fracturing for gas and oil

Abrasive blasting in
Maritime work
Construction
General industry

Prevention
OSHA has a policy that engineering and work practice controls must be the primary means used to reduce
employee exposure to toxic chemicals.Where possible, silica should be eliminated or substituted with a safer
option. Engineering controls should then be considered, such as using local exhaust ventilation, using
containment methods like blast-cleaning machines, cabinets, and wet sawing or wet drilling of silicacontaining materials. Administrative actions may include limiting workers exposure time and requiring
workers to shower and change into clean clothes before leaving a worksite.

Exposure
Workers who are exposed by drilling, cutting, crushing, or grinding silica-containing materials such as
concrete and stone. 300,000 workers in general industry operations such as brick manufacturing, foundries,
and hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking are also exposed. Responsible employers have been
protecting workers from harmful exposure to respirable crystalline silica for years, using widely-available
equipment that controls dust with water or a vacuum system.

Personal Protective Equipment

Personal protective equipment may include items such as gloves, safety glasses and shoes, earplugs or
muffs, hard hats, respirators, or coveralls, vests and full body suits. All personal protective equipment should
be safely designed and constructed, and should be maintained in a clean and reliable fashion. It should fit
comfortably, encouraging worker use. If the personal protective equipment does not fit properly, it can make
the difference between being safely covered or dangerously exposed.

What if no prevention is taken?

If no prevention is taken many workers will become sick with many debilitating diseases like silicosis,
tuberculosis, COPD, and even cancer.

What happens in lungs when exposed?

A mild case:When a person breathes in tiny particles enter through the nose but not all reach the lungs. The
nose acts like a filter , filtering many particles out by sneezing or blowing of the nose.Some of the smaller
particles pass the nose to reach the windpipe and the dividing air tubes that lead to the lungs.These tubes
are called bronchi and bronchioles. The mucus they produce catches most of the dust particles. Tiny hairs
called cilia, covering the walls of the air tubes, move the mucus upward and out into the throat.The air
reaches the tiny air sacs in the inner part of the lungs with any dust particles that avoided the defenses in
the nose and airways. The air sacs are very important because through them, the body receives oxygen and
releases carbon dioxide.Dust that reaches the sacs and the lower part of the airways where there are no cilia
is attacked by special cells called macrophages. These are extremely important for the defense of the lungs.
They keep the air sacs clean.Besides macrophages, the lungs have another system for the removal of dust.
The lungs can react to the presence of germ-bearing particles by producing certain proteins. These proteins
attach to particles to neutralize them.

Citations in US
Citations:

26

50

Inspections:

18

27

Penalty:

$24,878

Industry: 33 / Manufacturing
What for : Gases, vapors, fumes

$70,852
23 / Construction
Ventilation

$5,390
23 / Construction
Ventilation

Cites
https://www.osha.gov/dsg/topics/silicacrystalline/index.html
http://www.silica-safe.org/know-the-hazard/what-are-the-health-effects
https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3176.html