Occupational lung diseases

How much dust exposure is too much exposure before it’s too late?

Where it’s not possible to completely ban the use of products and materials which create excess hazardous dust, one common solution, it seems, is imposing litigation and heavy fines for businesses who expose workers to dangerous dust.

Over the last 10 years, businesses in multiple industries that have failed to adequately protect workers from excess dust exposure outlined within the hierarchy of controls, such as elimination or substitution of hazardous substances, or introducing control measures, have suffered enormous financial litigation for exposing people to hazardous dust which subsequently result in irreversible lung diseases.

Whether it’s in heavy duty and highly dusty occupational locations, like construction, quarrying or mining, or just general public spaces or low dust and eco-friendly environments, the cost of dust exposure is large.

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    Silica dust monitoring

    UK government urged to follow Australian stone ban

    Leading medical staff in the UK, writing for medical journal ‘Thorax’, are calling for industries and governing bodies to follow Australia’s new legislation and ban the use of engineered stone, commonly used for kitchen worktops.  

    It 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 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 all 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.

    You can read the full article from i newspaper here.

    Real-time silica dust monitoring

    Learn more about our real-time fixed silica dust monitor, AIR XS, can help improve your safety processes and keep your workers safe from harmful RCS today.

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      Real-time monitoring

      Enhancing your workforce with real-time monitoring

      Real-time monitoring offers solutions to us in our everyday lives. Whether it’s the real-time alerts that tells you that you’re at risk or in danger, or the subsequent data which provides you accurate information on what you’re monitoring, real-time monitoring has become an essential part of our lives.   

      But what about real-time monitoring when it comes to enhancing the workforce? You’d rely on real-time monitoring and alarms to tell you there’s a fire in your home, so why wouldn’t you rely on real-time monitoring to tell you if you were a risk as serious to your health at work? You’d rely on real-time data to tell you if you needed to track nutrition or health trends, so why wouldn’t you rely on essential data in real-time in the workplace? 

      Whether it’s for the health and safety of you and your colleagues, to better understand the processes and efficiency of the business, or just to help aid decisions, real-time monitoring can provide valuable data to workforces across a whole range of industries. Whether you are monitoring for hazardous substances like dust or silica, or monitoring for HAV, sound levels or proximity measures, real-time monitoring can enhance your workforce. 

      Real-time dust and silica monitoring

      Learn more about our real-time fixed, portable and personal dust and silica dust monitors, can help improve your safety processes and keep your workers safe from harmful dust today.

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        Area dust monitoring

        Controlling air pollution and the implications on global respiratory health

        ‘PM’ or particulate matter, also known as particle pollution is the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. 

        It’s estimated that air pollution is linked to 43,000 deaths per year in the UK. Worldwide, at least 7 million people die each year from exposure to air pollution, with 91% of the worldwide population living in locations where the air quality exceeded the World Health Organisations (WHO) air pollution guidelines.

        These guidelines state that that annual average concentrations of PM2.5 should not exceed 5 µg/m3 and PM10 should not exceed 15 µg/m3 (both for 24-hour periods). According to the WHO, ‘fine particulate matter at PM2.5 can penetrate through the lungs and further enter the body through the blood stream, affecting all major organs’. Exposure to dust at PM2.5 can cause serious disease to the respiratory system, such as lung cancer and COPD, and also can effect cardiovascular diseases, such as a stroke.

        The image below demonstrates PM2.5 and PM10 size in comparison to a single human hair and a grain of sand.

        The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the UK government ministerial department for environment protection, have also highlighted the severity of exposure to air pollution. This growing concern for the UK government estimated in 2010 that the cost of health impacts of air pollution was likely to exceed estimates of £8bn to £20bn.

        Although between 2005 and 2022, the UK’s PM2.5 emissions decreased by 41%, emission levels have been relatively steady with small annual fluctuations in the last decade. Industrial combustion is a major source of PM emissions, as well as emissions from industrial production also playing a major part, which can be linked to heavy-dust industry where hazardous particulates can become airborne. Despite some reductions in PM emissions, the threat still very much remains.

        REAL-TIME DUST MONITORING

        A solution to this is real-time dust monitoring. Real-time particulate monitoring allows people in heavy dust loading environments, including industrial applications, to not only understand, but alert them instantaneously when they are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution. For example, our AIR XD Dust Monitor can alert people in real-time when legislative levels of µg/m3 are breached, over a time-weighted average (TWA) 8-hour period, for both PM2.5 and PM10.

        This technology not only offers a simple solution to individuals at high risk of exposure to air pollution by providing instant alerts, but also can help to prevent exposure in the future, as at-risk individuals can learn exactly when and where exposure to air pollution is highest and will likely occur. Thanks to real-time monitoring, both in the UK and Worldwide, we can reduce exposure to air pollution.

        Real-time, fixed area monitoring

        Learn more about our real-time fixed total dust area monitor, AIR XD, can help improve your safety processes  and keep your workers safe from harmful dust today.

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          Silica dust monitoring

          Using real-time silica monitoring technology to combat occupational silicosis

          The AIR XS Silica Monitor leverages cutting-edge Optical Refraction Technology (ORT) to enhance workplace safety by providing real-time monitoring of respirable crystalline silica (RCS). Unlike traditional particle monitors, AIR XS distinguishes and measures RCS content, enabling immediate detection and response to harmful silica dust levels. This technology is crucial in combating occupational lung diseases such as silicosis, which affects millions of workers globally.

          Current monitoring methods, like gravimetric sampling, are time-consuming and often deliver results too late to prevent exposure. In contrast, real-time silica monitoring offers immediate data, significantly reducing the risk of occupational silicosis by enabling prompt action to mitigate hazardous conditions. The importance of such real-time data is highlighted by cases like Joanna McNeill’s, who developed silicosis at the age of just 36. Her story, like many others underscores the necessity for continuous monitoring to protect workers from the threat of silicosis, regardless of their occupational environment.

          Our real-time RCS monitor, AIR XS provides a real-time solution to this threat. Workers are not only alarmed and alerted when silica levels exceed legislative limits but can work to best practices by implementing AIR XS with the Hierarchy of Controls, supporting proactive measures to eliminate or minimise exposure to RCS. This move to real-time monitoring as a solution to the threat of silicosis has also been noticed by governing bodies, like the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Respiratory Health.

          Real-time silica dust monitoring

          Learn more about our real-time fixed silica dust monitor, AIR XS, can help improve your safety processes and keep your workers safe from harmful RCS today.

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            Personal dust monitoring

            British stone manufacturers introduce real-time dust monitoring technology trial across workforce

            A manufacturer of prestigious natural stone, Burlington Stone have quarried for over 200 years across the English Lake District, extracting and crafting a diverse range of signature British natural slate and stone products.

            Individuals across their workforce are often exposed to hazardous substances, most notably airborne dust, including silica dust. Burlington Stone trialed two XD1+ devices on their site for a month to see how real-time, personal dust monitoring would improve their safety processes.

            After the trial, we spoke to Health and Safety Manager, Peter Walker, about the success of the trial and some of the major benefits which Burlington Stone’s workforce found deploying XD1+ Personal Dust Monitor units in their day-to-day processes.

            Real-time personal dust monitoring

            Learn more about our real-time personal dust monitor, XD1+, can help improve your safety processes and keep your workers safe from harmful respirable dust today.

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              TX8100

              AIR XS Silica Monitor: Not just another particle counter

              Launched in 2022, the AIR XS Silica Monitor isn’t like other silica monitors on the market. If you’ve been in the Health and Safety space, it’s likely you’ll know about Optical Particle Counter (OPC), also known as “light-scattering”; but our patented AIR XS isn’t just another OPC.

              Unlike traditional Optical Particle Counters (OPCs) that rely on light scattering and interruptions to deduce particle size and quantity, the patented Optical Refraction Technology (ORT) used in the AIR XS shines a laser through each particle, capturing its refraction on multiple sensors.

              In our blog below, we reference Pink Floyd’s 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon to explain one way to how ORT works. It’s not exact by any means but the refraction of the light coming out of the prism shows an example of how light refracts, similar to a crystalline particle.

              Real-time dust and silica monitoring range

              Image of AIR XS Silica Monitor
              AIR XS Silica Monitor

              Image of XD1+ Personal Dust Monitor
              XD1+ Personal Dust Monitor

              Image of AIR XD Dust Monitor
              AIR XD Dust Monitor

              Image of XD ONE Portable Dust Monitor
              XD ONE Portable Dust Monitor

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                Silica dust monitoring

                How real-time data could be the beginning of the end for occupational silicosis

                Silicosis is now the most common occupational lung disease in the world, with silica dust described as ‘the new asbestos’ due to the extreme threat it poses to human health.  

                Silica dust (respirable crystalline silica (RCS)) is extremely harmful to human health due to its physical and biological properties. 

                It affects around 50,000,000 workers in a wide variety of industries all around the world and prolonged exposure leads to silicosis and a wide range of other diseases, most of which are untreatable and often lead to long-term disability and/or death.  

                The potential for harm is even worse than that when you consider that asbestos is one of many different silica compounds and silica is the most proliferate mineral on earth; present in bricks, sand, stone, concrete, glass, cement and many other construction and building materials. 99% of deaths in occupational settings, are caused by the inhalation of dangerous particulates, with the other significant factor in this statistic being the extreme difficulty in monitoring in real-time for these killer particulates 

                It has never been possible to reliably detect and distinguish silica dust in real time in the real-world settings in which workers are exposed to it – until now. 

                The white paper looks at the background of silica exposure, the current methodologies employed to monitor it and the new technological advancement that has led to the development of a field-ready product for the first time in history. 

                Legislated limits of exposure have been tightening up in most major economies as the harm being caused becomes known, but reductions in limits and the implementation of these limits have been hampered by the lack of real-time accurate and reliable monitoring capability. 

                This technology has the potential to change the way industry, governments, businesses and workers themselves respond to the threat of RCS exposure in the workplace, and as such, it can be the beginning of the end for occupational silicosis. Not only does it improve health and safety outcomes for frontline workers, but it also reduces costs for businesses whilst giving them back control over their working environment. 

                Perhaps most importantly of all, it gives legislative bodies the tool they need to create and implement workplace exposure limits (WELs) that genuinely protect workers from harm, at a cost industry can bear, ending decades of debate over what the limits should be and how practicable it is for industry to meet them. 

                Real-time silica dust monitoring

                Learn more about our real-time fixed silica dust monitor, AIR XS, can help improve your safety processes and keep your workers safe from harmful RCS today.

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                  Silica dust monitoring

                  TROLEX INSPIRES NEW APPG PERSPECTIVE ON RESPIRATORY HEALTH

                  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, who highlighted the advances in risk reduction and the particularly promising rise of real-time dust and silica monitoring technology. 

                  “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.” 

                  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. 

                  “We recommend that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) assesses and determines the data and technology needed to allow the UK to reduce the WEL for work with silica to 0.05mg/m3.” 

                  The recommendations from the APPG’s report indicate a number of changes need to be made in order 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. 

                  “We recommend that the HSE actively considers and consults with industry on the positions of real-time monitoring to complement the hierarchy of controls.” 

                  Real-time silica dust monitoring

                  Learn more about our real-time fixed silica dust monitor, AIR XS, can help improve your safety processes and keep your workers safe from harmful RCS today.

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                    Silica dust monitoring

                    OCCUPATIONAL SILICOSIS IN THE STONE INDUSTRY

                    The effects of silicosis in the stone industry is not an unknown issue.

                    But to what extent are stone workers aware of this issue? Are the specific causes of silicosis in the stone industry common knowledge? 

                    A scientific report from nature.com highlights the difference between engineered stone and natural stone, in relation to their silica content, shedding some light on where the cause of silicosis could lie in the stone industry. 

                     

                    Silica dust is causing life-changing problems for stone masons

                    Silicosis is one of the most dangerous respirable lung diseases in the workplace, especially when exposure to harmful silica dust is a common occurrence, such as in the stone industry. 

                    It is estimated that globally, 40 to 50 million workers are exposed to silica dust in the workplace. 

                    The Natural Stone Institute guide to awareness and prevention of silicosis determines that exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS), specifically in the stone industry comes from cutting or grinding materials, most commonly which contain quartz, is composed of silica dust. 

                    Engineered stone vs Natural stone

                    The purpose of the study from nature.com was to see, in relation to RCS, what the most threatening scenario was for worker’s health, in real time, when working with different compositions of stone. 

                    In the study, 12 engineered stones were assessed against three natural stones – white marble, white granites and black granites. By dry-cutting all stones, silica dust was captured in a closed environment and subjected to various assays to determine both chemical and physical properties. 

                    The 12 engineered stones’ silica content varied from one another, and the total RCS content made up of quartz and cristobalite ranged from 70.4% to 90.9%. By comparison, the natural stone’s silica content ranged from 3.5% to 30.1%, marking a clear difference. 

                    As well as this, the dry-cutting of engineered stone generated finer RCS particles with one engineered stone having an average size of as little as 190 nanometres, meaning it could reach deeper in the lungs, in turn causing more damage. Contrastingly, the smallest average particle size of the natural stone was black granite, with an average size of 503 nanometres. 

                    The results of this study concluded that silica dust emissions from engineered stones had a much higher concentration of quartz and cristobalite, therefore having a higher silica content and subsequently more damaging impact on respiratory health. 

                    Is there a solution to silicosis within the stone industry?

                    Ultimately, the report concluded that the higher the silica content of the stone, as well as the smaller size of RCS particles, the more dangerous it is to respirable health. 

                    The Natural Stone Institute conclude in their guide to occupational silicosis that there is no cure for silicosis; however, “with the proper equipment, training, vigilance and continual monitoring, you and your shop floor can be free of the dangers”.  

                    Being aware that harmful silica dust is higher within engineered stone, compared to natural stone, and by monitoring for this, as well as using correct respirable protective equipment (RPE) when working with engineered stone, it allows for correct precautions to be taken to avoid silicosis.  

                    Prevention is the best cure.

                    We’ve developed the world’s first real-time silica monitor, the AIR XS Silica Monitor, and, along with other health and safety controls, this is one of the tools that will help to prevent occupational silicosis for those exposed to harmful silica dust in the workplace. 

                    Real-time silica dust monitoring

                    Learn more about our real-time fixed silica dust monitor, AIR XS, can help improve your safety processes and keep your workers safe from harmful RCS today.

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