by Brianna Crandall — October 28, 2013—Facilities managers of manufacturing/industrial plants and those involved in construction/renovation projects may be particularly interested in a new study that offers additional evidence that silica is a carcinogen and can raise one’s risk of lung cancer, and in OSHA’s recent notice of proposed rulemaking for silica exposure that strengthens protection for workers.
The new study on silica followed 34,018 workers over a 44-year period, and identified 546 deaths from lung cancer. The report suggests that current permissible exposure limits in many countries might be inadequate to keep employees safe from exposure to silica and the ensuing health consequences such as silicosis and lung cancer. It also studied the additional risk of lung cancer for silica-exposed workers who smoked.
“Exposure-Response Analysis and Risk Assessment for Lung Cancer in Relationship to Silica Exposure: A 44-Year Cohort Study of 34,018 Workers” (link is to abstract) was published online in September in the American Journal of Epidemiology by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
In a related development, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica in the Federal Register on September 12, 2013. The new policy would replace the outdated, inconsistent 40-year-old permissible exposure limits (PELs) that OSHA currently enforces, with PELs that are consistent between industries and offer stronger protection for worker health.
OSHA invites and strongly encourages the public to participate in the process of developing a final rule through written comments (due December 11, 2013) and participation in public hearings, which begin March 4, 2014 (notice of intention to attend due November 12, 2013).
Additional information on the proposed rule, including five fact sheets, and procedures for submitting written comments and participating in public hearings, is available on OSHA’s Crystalline Silica Rulemaking Web page.
OSHA’s new 2013 “Deadly Dust” Silica Video is also available on its Silica Web page or on YouTube . The video shares stories representing the many American families who have seen first-hand the tragic effects of silicosis, and demonstrates how dust control methods can help limit workers’ exposure to crystalline silica.
