Silica dust and non-occupational silicosis——A global perspective

Health risk from various particulates of dust has been of public health concern for many years and scientific observations on dust have been going on for the last 200 years. Diseases resulting from exposure to dust are generally known as pneumoconiosis and have been primarily associated with occupational exposure to silica dust. Silica, which induces silicosis, has been recognized as far back as the Hippocratic times. The aim of the research is to try to assess the nature and scale of health risks from environmental exposure to silica on a global scale, with particular emphasis on non-occupational silicosis （pneumoconiosis）. Thorough literature reviews included studies and literature from non-occupational and occupational silicosis studies along with papers from Geology and Medicine. Non-published studies and local knowledge from Ladakh were used in pertinent of the review. The commonest form of silica （SiO2） is quartz. Other particulates in the atmosphere and finer particles 〈10 when inhaled with oxygen endanger human health; silica is the most threatening for non-occupational silicosis because of its high fibrogenicity. Aerosol minerals can often travel from continent to continent creating a health risk not just in the area of dust source, but also to secluded humans. When emitted into the air environmental exposure to （silica） quartz can occur as component of particulates emissions produced by natural-industrial-agricultural activities. Human exposure to environmental （silica） quartz can be summarized into direct and indirect pathways. Health risk from exposure to silica （quartz） has been widely studied in occupational settings; however there is a scarcity of studies on environmental/non-occupational exposure. Review of epidemiological studies on environment/non-occupational silicosis showed that all the studies lack a good control group and represent a small sample size. Many of these studies are case reports with retrospective histopathology, focusing only on the prevalence and lacking robust exposure measurement. Non-occupational/environmental silicosis is a global public health concem and the areas of dust source could be modified with climate changes. Literature is very scarce in relation to health risks from environmental dust （silica/quartz）, nevertheless the review of occupational studies links silica exposure to numerous diseases in humans.

Silica dust and non-occupational silicosis--A global perspective