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‘Silicosis’ Category

Today’s Mineworkers Face ‘Black Lung’ Resurgence

Today’s Mineworkers Face ‘Black Lung’ Resurgence

Talk about black lung disease, and immediately, pictures of coal miners covered with soot in the 1930s come to mind. In reality, progressive massive fibrosis (PMF) — known as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) and commonly known as black lung disease — has become more common in contemporary miners despite safety regulations and known concerns about silica exposure.

Today’s...

New Study Examines the Hazards of Silicosis

Silicosis Hazards Study

New Study Examines the Hazards of Silicosis

Scientific Reports released a new silicosis study that examines dust emissions from machined engineered stones to understand the hazard for accelerated silicosis. The study was born from the recent upsurge in accelerated silicosis cases among those working in the stonemason industry.

Researchers simulated real-time dust exposure scenarios by dry machining engineered stones in controlled...

OSHA Cracks Down on Silicosis

OSHA Silicosis Measures

OSHA Cracks Down on Silicosis

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited West Virginia’s Continental Brick Co. and proposed fines of $131,972 after an investigation found the employer exposed workers to crystalline silica at its brick manufacturing facility in Martinsburg.

The fines and citations were announced just as the agency unveiled a new program aimed at...

Most Common Ways Silica Dust Exposure Happens

Silica Dust Exposure

Most Common Ways Silica Dust Exposure Happens

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). Each year, more than 200 American workers die from silicosis. 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...

How COVID-19 makes Industrial Workers Vulnerable

Silicosis Victims

How COVID-19 makes Industrial Workers Vulnerable

In the United States, an estimated 2.3 million workers are exposed to crystalline silica—a substance that has caused the most widespread occupational respiratory disease for over 100 years now. For a long time, exposure to the mineral declined after disasters like Hawk’s Nest Tunnel went public. Scientists and policymakers stood together to prevent the exploitation of American workers in...

The Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster – A Tragedy We Cannot Repeat

exposure to toxic silica dust

The Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster – A Tragedy We Cannot Repeat

In the opening lyric of John Denver’s signature classic Take me Home, Country Roads, he describes West Virginia as “almost heaven”—an accurate portrayal of the Mountain State in the eyes of its people. Its picturesque green fields and overlooks make for a hiker’s or a rock climber’s dream come true. But with all its untouched nature and breathtaking views, West...

Silicosis on the Rise in the Fracking Industry

Developing Silicosis

Silicosis on the Rise in the Fracking Industry

“Fracking” is the common name for a now widely used process to extract oil and gas – hydraulic fracturing. Though it has existed for well over 60 years, the drilling technique only took center stage in the last decade with the improvement of technologies. As of 2019, the industry has made the United States a major crude oil exporter. However, any economic benefits gained from...

The First Countertop Worker in U.S. Diagnosed with Silicosis

silicosis law firm

The First Countertop Worker in U.S. Diagnosed with Silicosis

Since its creation in the late 1980s, quartz (an industry term for engineered stone) has been used in custom home building and improvement. The engineered stone’s durability and fashionable element has prompted it to become a popular material used in kitchens and bathrooms. While the manufacturing of the stone has been attributed to a fast-growing industry, the workers who fabricate and...

Controlling the Dust: How Silicosis Can Be Prevented

silicosis

Controlling the Dust: How Silicosis Can Be Prevented

As American manufacturing industries expand, so does the workforce that enables productive labor and outcome. For over a decade, the engineered stone industry has done just that by fulfilling consumers’ widespread demand for “quartz” countertops. While the artificial stone makes for durable kitchen and bathroom surfaces, the cutting and polishing process it goes through puts workers at...

Cutting Countertops: Is it Synonymous with Silicosis?

silicosis law firm

Cutting Countertops: Is it Synonymous with Silicosis?

Despite the safety and health regulations that are seemingly assured to manual labor workers in the countertop fabrication industry, there is an obvious disconnect between company claims of protection, and the serious fatal diseases contracted by workers as a result of minimal action taken to verify those claims. This reality is especially true to individuals who have developed silicosis due...

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