Occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica (also known as silica dust or quartz dust) cause adverse health effects, including silicosis (acute silicosis, accelerated silicosis, simple chronic silicosis, progressive massive fibrosis), nonmalignant respiratory diseases (e.g., emphysema and chronic bronchitis), lung cancer, and kidney disease. Each of these effects is chronic, irreversible, and potentially disabling or fatal.
On April 18, 2024, MSHA issued its final rule, Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection, to reduce miner exposures to respirable crystalline silica and improve respiratory protection for all airborne hazards. The final rule:
The final rule will take effect on June 17, 2024. Coal mine operators have 12 months to come into compliance with the final rule’s requirements while MNM mine operators have 24 months to come into compliance (including medical surveillance).
This news comes after cases of silicosis linked to engineered stone exposure recently came to light globally. Workers who have been exposed to engineered stone quartz and dust are now being affected by and diagnosed with severe lung problems, linked to inhaling such dust. Earlier in the year, it had prompted the Australian government to act and ban the use, manufacturing, and production of engineered stone across the entire country.
Now the UK is being urged to do the same, with the first cases of occupational silicosis related to engineered stone production have now been reported in the country. Various medical staff who have treated workers diagnosed with these cases of silicosis are calling for similar action to be taken in the UK as in Australia.
According to British newspaper i the first 8 cases of silicosis linked to engineered stone use have been confirmed, all of which are men. The average age of the 8 men is 34, with the youngest to be diagnosed just 27 years old. Of the 8 cases, 1 man has died, and 2 others have been referred for lung transplant assessments.
The article from i features an interview with one of the diagnosed workers, Malik al-Khalil, a stonemason who is just 31. After working with engineered stone for 5 years, Malik was diagnosis with silicosis, contracted after cutting engineered stone slabs in a small London workshop. Malik said, “I want to let all the people working in this work know what’s happening from this material” and believes the only solution to this growing problem is a nationwide ban of the product; “Of course [it should be banned] because the silicosis is coming from this material.”
It’s not just Malik and fellow diagnoses patients who are calling for engineered stone to be banned in the UK. Dr Johanna Feary, a respiratory consultant from the Royal Brompton Hospital where Malik al-Khalil is being treated, and lead author for ‘Thorax’, has also highlighted her concerns over exposed to the product. Dr Feary told i “We’ve been anticipating that we would start seeing cases in the UK at some point. That moment has arrived now.”
The team of doctors writing in ‘Thorax’, who highlighted the first 8 cases, have also called for a legal requirement to report cases of silicosis, as well as calling for the implementation of health and safety regulation for both small companies and national guidelines to treat and monitor for silicosis.
New test findings released, confirm the efficacy of a world-first real-time monitor for silica dust, which represents a revolution in the protection for workers exposed to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) dust.
As a leading workplace safety technology company, we have developed the AIR XS Silica Monitor, designed to protect workers against lung diseases such as silicosis by providing real-time readings of levels of crystalline silica in the air.
We have recently commissioned a leading occupational hygiene and laboratory testing organisation to conduct independent testing of the AIR XS. The results show the AIR XS repeatedly provided consistent, accurate, real-time data throughout an eight-hour testing period.
The testing demonstrates that AIR XS can improve worker safety by providing instant information to businesses and workers exposed to RCS, instead of having to wait up to four weeks to know their level of exposure to this killer dust, which is the current industry standard.
While the Australian Government recently implemented a ban on engineered stone, commencing 1 July 2024, the process most synonymous with creating silica dust, Group CEO Glyn Pierce-Jones said this ban alone would not solve the current health crisis caused by RCS.
“Silica dust is found in most building materials, so while banning engineered stone is a positive step, it’s not a holistic solution. The real issue facing the industry is the current archaic methods of testing for silica dust and the delay it causes in creating the safest possible workplace.”
The AIR XS is already being used in Australia to monitor RCS levels in many industrial locations.
Silica occurs naturally in soil, sand and granite; however, it is almost harmless in that state. Once those materials have been disturbed through construction or mining, silica dust is generated and can be inhaled into the lungs. This dust can cause silicosis, and other types of lung diseases and cancer, which are often irreversible and progressive.
Recent research from The Lung Foundation showed an estimated 600,000 Australian workers and between 40-50 million workers worldwide are exposed to silica dust across a wide range of industries including quarrying, construction, tunnelling, mining and many manufacturing processes.
The current approach to test for RCS is gravimetric sampling, the process requires collection, processing, and laboratory analysis of the sample, which is both time-consuming and costly for businesses. Direct-reading instruments offer businesses the ability to monitor employee safety on sites in real-time, eliminating the delays of weeks typically associated with potential RCS exposure.
Mr Pierce-Jones emphasised the urgent need for enhanced safety measures for anyone who may be in contact with silica.
“The current testing methodology for RCS only allows users to take an average reading over an eight-hour period and typically takes up to four weeks to produce a result,” Mr Pierce-Jones said.
“Our AIR XS Silica Monitor was designed to provide an accurate reading with immediate results, letting workers know when their health is in danger and allowing employers to respond in the most efficient manner.”
“These latest test results are another indicator of what we already knew at Trolex – that the AIR XS could be part of a desperately needed solution to an urgent health crisis.”
You can request the full independent AIR XS testing report by following the link below.
In December 2023, Australia became the first country in the world to ban engineered stone due to rising cases of silicosis. From 1st July 2024, all use of engineered stone in Australia will be prohibited to protect workers from exposure to RCS in the workplace.
Engineered stone is a manufactured material made from combining quartz or granite aggregates with resins and pigment and is a common material used in stone bench tops, often found in kitchens and bathrooms. It’s production often results in airborne RCS, leading to significant health risks to those working with it.
With reports that over half a million Australians are exposed to fine silica dust through stonemasonry and construction, figures suggest 103,000 of these workers are likely to be diagnosed with silicosis.
The production and manufacturing of stone bench tops is a significant contributor to these statistics. The ban on engineered stone across the entirety of Australia is a step in the right direction to reduce the number of workers exposed to RCS and silicosis diagnosis in the future.
This ruling in Australia looks to have a set a precedent in influencing other countries to do the same. In May 2024, the first cases of silicosis linked to artificial stone countertops in the UK were reported, leading to calls for the material to be banned.
An estimated 600,000 workers are exposed to silica in the UK each year, and in Europe as a whole, 81% of those exposed are employed in construction or in manufacturing products used in the industry.
After Australia became the first country worldwide to ban engineered stone in December 2023, UK kitchen company Herringbone announced they would also ban the sale of high-silica quartz worktop due to the risks posed to stonemasons.
Since speaking with their stonemasons about the risk of high quartz in engineered stone, Herringbone made the decision to become the first company in the UK to phase out the sale and production of engineered stone, as well as creating a petition to have the product completely banned in the UK, like in Australia.
In the US, the Biden administration has agreed to limit workers exposure to silica dust in mining, particularly when drilling for coal, ore and completing other mining operations. In April 2024, a ruling was announced to reduce the allowable silica dust levels in mining operations to 50 micrograms per cubic meter, with an action level at 25 micrograms, for an eight-hour workday.
The ruling will also update any respiratory protection standards for mining workers and in addition to silica dust, will also apply to diesel particulate matter and asbestos. The hope is that this will begin to reduce an estimated 1,067 deaths and 3,746 silica related illnesses in mining industries in the US and begin to make mining safer from the risk of RCS for the 55,000 American coal miners across the nation. The rule will come into action one year after its publication in April 2024.
With significant action being taken across major industries worldwide as of mid-2024 and onwards, protection for workers against respirable crystalline silica is becoming more of a high priority in workplaces. With banning of products known to produce dangerous levels of RCS, and with rule changes to limit exposure, workers short- and long-term lung health is becoming better protected than ever.
In 2020, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Respiratory Health (APPG) issued the report “Silica, the next asbestos?”, which examined the disproportionate effect of silica dust to construction workers’ lives.
Since the publication of that report, the APPG were contacted by a number of experts on the subject matter, including ourselves, who highlighted the advances in risk reduction and the particularly promising rise of real-time dust and silica monitoring technology.
The new, revised report, titled “Improving Silicosis Outcomes in the UK” also explored these new silicosis prevention strategies, including some input from Trolex on the subject matter. From this, the APPG raised several clinical and regulatory recommendations to protect workers from the dangers of occupational silicosis going forward.
“Trolex believe that the most obvious and immediate benefit of real-time monitoring is in improving safety for those potentially exposed to silica in the workplace…We recommend that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) assess and determine the data and technology needed to allow the UK to reduce the WEL for work with silica to 0.05mg/m³.”
Jim Shannon, MP
Chair APPG, All-Party Parliamentary Group for Respiratory Health
The recommendations from the APPG’s report indicate numerous changes need to be made to improve safety across all UK industries which use silica. These recommendations focus on both ways to prevent exposure to dangerous respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in the workplace, including improvements in education, real-time monitoring and reducing exposure limits, as well as improving health and support for those who currently suffer with silicosis.
By working with the authors of the APPG to share the features, benefits and thinking behind the development of real-time silica monitoring technology, together we’re able to provide new evidence for this report the report with fitting advice and supporting of reducing exposure to respirable crystalline silica in the workplace.
