Silica Exposure, Silicosis, and the New Occupational Safety and Health Administration Silica Standard. What Pulmonologists Need to Know

Details

• Personal Author:
  Deslauriers JR ; Redlich CA
• Description:
  Silicosis, a progressive fibrotic lung disease caused by inhalation of respirable crystalline silica particles, remains an important and preventable occupational lung disease in the United States and worldwide. In this month's issue of the AnnalsATS, Reilly and colleagues (pp. 1404-1410) present data from the State of Michigan's occupational health surveillance program on more than 1,000 confirmed cases of silicosis from 1988 to 2016. The findings presented highlight several important features regarding silicosis in the United States, as well as the new 2016 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) silica standard and the need for pulmonologists to be knowledgeable about the risks of silica exposure and silica-related lung diseases. The majority of silicosis cases reported had more advanced disease: 22% had progressive massive fibrosis on imaging, 17% reported ever having tuberculosis, and 76% of ever- and 72% of never-smokers had either a restrictive or obstructive pattern on spirometry. Yet most (65%) had not applied for workers' compensation, and of those confirmed cases that died during the study period, only 8% of the death certificates recorded a diagnosis of silicosis, suggesting substantial underrecognition of the disease. Further, over time, the fraction of confirmed cases that applied for workers' compensation and had death certificate documentation of the disease both declined, suggesting even greater underrecognition in most recent years. This may reflect clinicians' decreased awareness of the risks of silica exposure and limited attention to the patient's occupational and environmental history. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Lung Diseases Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Lung Disease Occupational Diseases Silica Dusts Silicosis Workers Compensation
• ISSN:
  2329-6933
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  15
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055222
• Citation:
  Ann Am Thorac Soc 2018 Dec; 15(12):1391-1392
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  Yale University School of Medicine
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010701
• Source Full Name:
  Annals of the American Thoracic Society
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f69af5af14a9812af9f82571ea65100952f6f3e29fbfcfbf8c378c24cff498de2dba71638eb95f6125b09e27c2011a9b1184590da1bee13e11604ebb0627bb82
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217573/cdc_217573_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 475.89 KB ]