Silica, or silicon dioxide, is an abundant chemical compound found in sand, rock, and soil. It is a naturally-occurring mineral and is often used in manufacturing a wide variety of materials, particularly in the construction and manufacturing business.
Although grave concern about inhalation of silica – practically, finely ground sand – goes back to the 1930s, recognition that silica exposure caused silicosis, lung cancer, and other potentially fatal conditions increased dramatically in the 1990s. Today we know that many workers in oil fields and refineries, construction, mining, foundries, demolition, manufacturing, plumbing, painting, and other industries have been exposed to unsafe levels of silica dust.
What Are the Dangers of Silica Dust Inhalation?
When silica and silica dust are constantly inhaled, tiny particles can enter into small air sacs in the lungs leading to a disease known as silicosis. Silicosis is a chronic lung disease, evidenced by the scarring and hardening of lung tissue, which occasionally afflicts workers constantly subjected to a work environment where silica dust is commonplace. Individuals exposed to overflowing amounts of silica dust are at more significant risk of developing lung cancer, tuberculosis, and bronchitis.
Potential early indicators of silicosis include routine dry coughing, shortness of breath, hyperventilating, and increasing fatigue. Even without additional exposure to silica dust, silicosis will continue to advance. In later stages, an affected person experiences chronic shortness of breath, constant coughing, appetite loss, chest pain, and general weakness.
Also known by older names, including rock tuberculosis, potter’s rot, grinder’s rot, dust consumption, and stonemason’s disease, silicosis belongs to a group of lung disorders called pneumoconiosis. The appearance of fibrous scar tissue and nodules in the lungs characterize these conditions.
Today, OSHA strictly enforces regulations limiting and protecting workers from silica dust exposure. More than 250 Americans die from this fatal disease every year.
What Are the Symptoms of Silicosis?
Silicosis symptoms can arise from a few weeks to many years after silica exposure. As scarring on the lung surfaces, symptoms become pronounced. One of the earliest symptoms you may encounter is a cough which grows over time with exposure to silica.
How Does Silicosis Develop?
While the exact mechanism that triggers silicosis is vague, what is known is that particles of silica dust get trapped in tiny sacs in the lungs where air exchange takes place. In nature, silica affects the lungs by injuring the lining of the lung air sacs.
Once this starts, it leads to scarring and progressive massive fibrosis in some cases. This condition happens when severe scarring and stiffening of the lungs make it hard to breathe. Each type of silicosis affects the body somewhat differently.
When diagnosing your condition, your healthcare provider may relate hearing crackling or wheezing when listening to your lungs. Having silicosis increases the risk of other problems such as tuberculosis, lung cancer, and chronic bronchitis. Over time, lung capacity will decline. Because of this, individuals living with the condition ultimately need support with oxygen and other devices to aid in breathing.
How Much Silica Exposure Is Dangerous?
It takes a minimal amount of very fine respirable silica dust to form a health risk. OSHA regulations demand construction employers to keep worker exposures at or below a permissible exposure level of 5 micrograms per cubic meter. This is the maximum amount of silica exposure an employee can take in an 8-hour workday. However, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists has a lower non-regulatory threshold limit value of 25 micrograms per cubic meter.
It is challenging work doing things like trimming, sawing, sanding, and drilling fiber cement siding, drywall, engineered stone countertops, and cement.
It is even more challenging to realize you have spent years filling your lungs full of harmful, debilitating, and deadly dust. Drywall, fiber cement siding, engineered stone, glass tiles, cement, and many other construction materials release respirable crystalline silica particles – particles 100 times smaller than sand – through everyday construction tasks such as cutting, grinding, and drilling. You may have seen dust clouds when cutting, sawing, grinding, or drilling these materials.
According to the federal government, “Around 2.3 million employees are exposed to crystalline silica.” Inhaling those particles causes several conditions such as silicosis, which OSHA stated as “an incurable lung disease that can lead to disability and death”; lung cancer; kidney disease; and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also called COPD.
These diseases may be diagnosed when health problems appear years after exposure.
Recognizing the significant impact on workers, the federal government recently lowered the allowable exposure limits for construction and related trade workers. The government’s concern with how treacherous the particles are resulted in mandating decreasing exposure limits by greater than 50% for some materials.
While the companies profited from selling construction materials, employees and their families have suffered and continue to suffer from inhalation of respirable silica.
What Is A Class Action Lawsuit?
A class action is a lawsuit that one or more people generally bring on behalf of a group of others who are in a similar situation. Everyone must share similar legal issues, and there must be enough individuals involved that it would not make sense to bring separate lawsuits.
Additionally, the court must certify the class to bring an action. The court will consider the following before certification:
- The plaintiffs must adequately represent the interests of the whole class;
- There must be no conflicts of interest between the plaintiffs;
- The plaintiffs must be competent;
- The claims of the representatives must be similar and represent the entire class; and
- The question of fact must come from one act or a pattern of conduct by the defendant.
Initially, a person or group will bring a putative class-action lawsuit against the defendant. The court will then decide whether to certify the lawsuit as a class action; when certified, the original group will represent the entire class action group and move forward as a class-action lawsuit.
Should the court refuse to certify the class, they will generally give their reason why. This would most likely be because they do not think the class is complete, meaning that more potential plaintiffs could join the class to strengthen the case.
Any person who may be affected by the class action lawsuit is entitled to receive notice of it being initiated. Included in the notice must be a description of the claim and information that they can opt-out of the class action if they wish to do so. If they do opt out, they must be aware that they will not be able to bring forth their claim in the future.
Because many class actions are considerably large, notices of class actions can be put in newspapers, TV commercials, or mailing lists. Depending on the circumstances, it is possible for a potential class member who did not join the class to bring forward their suit if they had no idea that there was a class action.
How Can I Get Help?
If you or a loved one have been exposed to silica dust and are experiencing health problems, you should contact a physician immediately. If you were injured because of exposure to a toxic substance like silica, you should consult with a local class action attorney to seek further guidance on your claim.
