An epidemiological investigation was undertaken to determine the relationship between silicosis in hardrock miners in Ontario and cumulative exposure to silica (crystalline silica--alpha quartz) dust. This first report describes the cohort, the method of classifying the radiographs, and the identification of a case of silicosis.

A case of acute silicosis complicating as spontaneous pneumomediastinum, bilateral pneumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema is described in a 35-year-old male engaged in stone crusher unit. Diagnosis was established on clinical and radiological assessment and supported by occupational history of the patient. This case is unique one as all these 3 complications at the same time are very uncommon ...

Background: Silicosis is one of the oldest recorded occupational lung diseases, known since the time of Hippocrates and the ancient Egypt. It is an untreatable illness characterised by irreversible and progressive fibrotic reaction in the lung tissue caused by inhaling silica dust crystals with aereodynamic diameters of 0.5-5.0 micron diameter. It is a significant cause of mortality in the deve...

BACKGROUND Increased pulmonary epithelial permeability evaluated by the rate of clearance from lung to blood of the radioaerosol solute technetium-99m labelled diethylenetriamine pentaacetate (99mTc-DTPA) has been reported in smokers and in workers exposed to silica dust. A study was carried out to determine whether there are additive effects of cigarette smoke and exposure to silica dust on cl...

This special issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine looks back to the International Conference on silicosis that took place in Johannesburg 85 years ago [International Labour Office, 1930]. Held in 1930, this scientific gathering marked a turning point in the medical and economic history of pneumoconiosis. Moreover, this Conference, ground breaking in its own right, also laid the ...

flint) is perhaps the oldest occupational disease, probably existing in the paleolithic period. Hippocrates and Pliny refer to the disorder. Some of the most tragic and wanton examples of occupational disease were due to silicosis, for example, how table blade grinding in Sheffield (1886) robbed workers of 25 years of life, or the Gauley Bridge disaster in West Virginia (1931). Perusing a recen...

This paper investigates silicosis as a disabling disease in underground mining in the United Kingdom (UK) before Second World War, exploring the important connections between South Africa and the UK and examining some of the issues raised at the 1930 International Labour Office Conference on silicosis in Johannesburg in a British context. The evidence suggests there were significant paradoxes a...