SILICOSIS – A MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL THREAT

Abstract

One of the most hazardous diseases associated with the construction industry is silicosis, which is the outcome of dust inhalation. The prolonged breathing of silica (quartz) or silicon dioxide is considered as a potent irritant that causes the occurrence of this disease. The respiration of silica leads to the formation of scar tissue inside the lungs which diminishes the ability of lung to extract oxygen from air and hence leads towards the pulmonary fibrosis condition. In the present study, the workers engaged in bricks and tiles operation were examined and their percentage cell damage has been determined. According to the statistical analysis performed, there is no significant difference between the cell damage of the workers either employed in bricks or tiles operation and thus they are equally affected by the inhalation of silica. In addition, it has been found that there is a weak correlation between the length of the service of individual worker and the cell damage which signifies that intensity of silica exposure varies and is poorly correlated with the duration of work. However, when compared separately, the workers in both operations depict some interesting and surprising correlations.

Keywords

• Silicosis
• silical
• celldamage