Building construction, demolition, and repair.Bridge and highway construction and repair.Workers especially affected and at risk of developing silicosis are those who do: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that approximately 2.3 million Americans are exposed to silica at work. Those cases, and the new cases in the United States discovered between 2017 – 2019 in California, Colorado, Texas, and Washington have public health experts worrying about the nearly 100,000 U.S. “Engineered stone,” the CDC says, “contains substantially more silica than natural stone (greater than 90 percent compared with less than 45 percent in granite).”Ĭlusters of silicosis cases, some requiring lung transplants, had already occurred among workers who cut engineered stone in Israel, Italy and Spain when doctors saw the first North American case in 2014.Ī recent Australian study found at least 12% of workers who cut stone countertops had silicosis.

The CDC reports that between 2010 – 2018, quartz surface imports to the United States increased approximately 800 percent due to the popularity of engineered stone countertops, and so, more workers have been exposed. The fastest growing segment of workers exposed to silica dust, however, is that of engineered stone fabrication (quartz) workers. Were you exposed to dangerous silica dust?

Working in the oil industry where hydraulic fracking occurs.

Working in a foundry that uses industrial sand.

Removing paint and rust with power tools.

Dry sweeping or pressurized air-blowing of concrete or dust.

Demolishing concrete and masonry structures.

Chipping, drilling, grinding, hammering, or sawing concrete or masonry.

Chipping, crushing, drilling, dumping, or hammering of concrete or rock.

Abrasive blasting of concrete, e.g., concrete bridges or buildings.

Abrasive blasting of bridges, pipes, tanks, and other painted surfaces, especially while using silica sand.

Workers become exposed to silica dust in many ways. People who work with and around these materials are most likely to be exposed. Abrasive blasting, breaking, crushing, cutting, drilling, or grinding of these materials forms the fine silica dust. It’s also in mortar, plaster, shingles, and soil. The malady, which is disabling and often fatal, is caused by breathing dust that contains very small pieces of crystalline silica found in concrete, masonry, paint, rock, sandstone, and other abrasives. While workers as young as 22 years of age have succumbed to the illness very quickly, sometimes within a year, the most common length of time to develop silicosis is between 10 and 20 years. Each year, more than 200 American workers die from silicosis. Since 1968, more than 14,000 workers have died in the United States from a lung disease called silicosis, says the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Government Contractor & Procurement Fraud.

Defense & Homeland Security Contract Fraud.

Silica dust