Silicosis: Most people get silicosis from a workplace

Most people get silicosis from a workplace where they inhale large amounts of silica dust. Learn more about the causes, risk factors, symptoms, treatments, and how to prevent this lung disease. Continuing Education Activity Silica is the most plentiful mineral on earth and is the primary constituent in most rocks. The respirable form of silica is small enough to reach the terminal bronchioles and alveoli of the respiratory system. Typical immune mechanisms cannot clear these particles from the lung, initiating a pathologic cycle of inflammation and parenchymal damage that ultimately leads to silicosis. Silicosis is the world's most prevalent occupational lung disease and is ... Silicosis is a type of pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease caused by breathing in tiny bits of silica, a common mineral found in sand, quartz and many other types of rock. Silicosis mainly affects workers exposed to silica dust in jobs such as construction and mining. Silicosis is occupational pneumoconiosis (the general term for a class of interstitial lung diseases where inhalation of dust has caused interstitial fibrosis) caused by inhalation of crystalline silicon dioxide. Silica is in quartz, sand, stone, soil, granite, brick, cement, grout, mortar, bitumen and engineered stone products. This disease is one of several well-described pulmonary complications associated with toxic exposures in the workplace. [1] Any occupation disturbing the earth’s ...