OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES

Silicosis and Pulmonary Fibrosis

Silicosis is another disease producing pulmonary fibrosis in which the cause is known. It is a disease that results from breathing in free crystaIline silica dust.

All types of mining in which the ore is extracted from quartz rock can produce silicosis if precautions are not taken. This includes the mining of gold, lead, zinc, copper, iron, anthracite (hard) coal, and some bituminous (soft) coal. Workers in foundries, sandstone grinding, tunneling, sandblasting, concrete breaking, granite carving, and china manufacturing also encounter silica.

Some Additional Diseases linked to Pulmonary Fibrosis:

Kidney diseases such as nephritis and end-stage renal failure

Tuberculosis

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Systemic Lupus Erythematosis

Systemic Sclerosis

Scleroderma

Grain handler's lung

Mushroom worker's lung

Bagassosis Detergent worker's lung

Maple bark stripper's lung

We now have good epidemiology studies of recent vintage showing that silica exposure (with and without silicosis) is linked with several autoimmune conditions which previously there were only case studies: rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, Sjogrens' syndrome, and lupus. There is also accumulating epidemiology evidence that occupational silica exposure is linked with kidney diseases such as nephritis and end-stage renal disease.