What is Silica?
Silica is silicon dioxide, a naturally occurring mineral that forms the major component of most rocks and soils.
Silica is found in some construction materials such as sandstones, bricks, clay, and concrete products. It is even found in some plastics as silica is used as a filter during the production process.
Why is Silica Dust Dangerous?
Heavy exposure to silica can cause lung cancer and other serious respiratory diseases, particularly if breathed in for prolonged periods or in very high amounts for a short period.
Some identified illnesses include silicosis, lung cancer, tuberculosis (in those with silicosis), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition to these, silica exposure has been linked to other illnesses including renal disease and other cancers.
Percentages of Silica in different stones:
| Sandstone | 70–90% |
| Concrete, mortar | 25–70% |
| Brick | Up to 30% |
| Tile | 30–45% |
| Granite | 20–45%, typically 30% |
| Limestone | 2% |
| Marble | 2% |
How to prevent this risk of Silica?
Every company should comply with the workplace health and safety requirements, so they should fully assess the risks to health from materials that contain a high percentage of Silica.
At Stone Corp we make sure to use only the materials that have no risk on any of our employees’ health, and we test all of our materials at our lab to make sure we use only the materials that resulted with the least amount of Silica percentage in them.
So whether you are importing large amounts of stones, or you are looking for different types of stones to add to your property, take into your consideration the diseases a worker can develop due to exposure to very high levels of silica dust.
