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Related Experiment Videos

Does long-term concrete work cause silicosis?

G Tornling1, J Tollqvist, A Askergren

  • 1Department of Thoracic Medicine, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health
|April 1, 1992
PubMed
Summary

Workers with over 20 years of concrete experience showed no signs of silicosis. The risk of developing silicosis from concrete work in Sweden is low, not warranting routine chest X-rays.

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Area of Science:

  • Occupational Health
  • Environmental Health
  • Pulmonary Medicine

Background:

  • Machining concrete generates significant respirable silica dust.
  • Concrete work generally involves lower silica exposure, with few reported silicosis cases.
  • Silicosis is a serious lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the risk of silicosis among experienced concrete construction workers.
  • To evaluate silica exposure levels in different concrete work tasks.
  • To determine if general radiographic screening is necessary for these workers.

Main Methods:

  • Telephone interviews with 271 construction workers with over 20 years of concrete experience.
  • Evaluation of occupational history and work tasks for silica exposure.

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  • Chest radiographs classified using the International Labour Office (ILO) system.

    • Main Results:

    • Mean cumulative silica exposure estimated at 2.4 mg.years.m-3.
    • No worker exhibited signs suggestive of silicosis on chest radiographs.
    • The study found a low risk of silicosis in this cohort.

    Conclusions:

    • Silicosis risk from concrete work in the Swedish construction industry is considered slight.
    • General, periodic chest radiographic screening for concrete workers is not justified.
    • Focus should remain on controlling dust exposure during high-risk tasks like machining concrete.