<unk>  resulted in 46,000 deaths in 2013, down from 55,000 deaths in 1990. Occupational<unk>  Workers in a cloud of concrete dust containing respirable crystalline silica with no controls in place.<unk>  is the most common occupational lung disease worldwide. It occurs everywhere, but is especially common in developing countries. From 1991 to 1995, China reported more than 24,000 deaths due to<unk>  each year. It also affects developed nations. In the United States, it is estimated that between one and two million workers have had occupational exposure to crystalline silica dust and 59,000 of these workers will develop<unk>  sometime in the course of their lives. According to CDC data,<unk>  in the United States is relatively rare. The incidence of deaths due to<unk>  declined by 84% between 1968 and 1999, and only 187 deaths in 1999 had<unk>  as the underlying or contributing cause. Additionally, cases of<unk>  in Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio are highly correlated to industry and occupation. Although<unk>  has been a known occupational disease for centuries, the industrialization of mining has led to an increase in<unk>  cases . Pneumatic drilling in mines and less commonly, mining using explosives, would raise fine-ultra fine crystalline silica dust (rock dust). In the United States, a 1930 epidemic of<unk>  due to the construction of the Hawk's Nest Tunnel near Gauley Bridge, West Virginia caused the death of at least 400 workers. Other accounts place the mortality figure at well over 1000 workers, primarily African American transient workers from the southern United States. Workers who became ill were fired and left the region, making an exact mortality account difficult. The Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster is known as "America's worst industrial disaster. The prevalence of<unk>  led some men to grow what is called a miner's mustache, in an attempt to intercept as much dust as possible. Chronic simple<unk>  has been reported to occur from environmental exposures to silica in regions with high silica soil content and frequent dust storms. Also, the mining establishment of Delamar Ghost Town, Nevada was ruined by a dry-mining process that produced a<unk> -causing dust. After hundreds of deaths from<unk> , the town was nicknamed The Widowmaker. The problem in those days was somewhat resolved with an addition of a nozzle to the drill which sprayed a mist of water, turning dust raised by drilling into mud, but this inhibited mining work. Because of work-exposure to silica dust,<unk>  is an occupational hazard to construction, demolition, mining, sandblasting, quarry, tunnelling, ceramics and foundry workers, as well as grinders, stone cutters, stone countertops, refractory brick workers, tombstone workers, workers in the oil and gas industry, pottery workers, fiberglass manufacturing, glass manufacturing, flint knappers and others. Brief or casual exposure to low levels of crystalline silica dust are said to not produce clinically significant lung disease. In less developed countries where work conditions are poor and respiratory equipment is seldom used, the life expectancy is low (e.g. for silver miners in Potosí, Bolivia is around 40 years due to<unk> . Recently,<unk>  in Turkish denim sandblasters was detected as a new cause of<unk>  due to recurring, poor working conditions.<unk>  is seen in horses associated with inhalation of dust from certain cristobalite-containing soils in California. Social realist artist Noel Counihan depicted men who worked in industrial mines in Australia in the 1940s dying of<unk>  in his series of six prints, 'The miners' (1947 linocuts). While it has been long-thought that cases of<unk>  in Australia were no longer possible, the recent reported epidemic in 2018 demonstrated that additional protections for workers were needed. Some have spoken publicly on the need to re-learn lessons from past experiences to prevent further disease. and 2019 The Australian Government Department of Health established a National Dust Disease Taskforce in response to the number of reported cases of<unk>  in 2018.<unk>  has also been identified as one of many long-term health outcomes for first responders from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Desert lung disease A non-occupational form of<unk>  has been described that is caused by long-term exposure to sand dust in desert areas, with cases reported from the Sahara, Libyan desert and the Negev. The disease is caused by deposition of this dust in the lung. Desert lung disease may be related to Al Eskan disease, a lung disorder thought to be caused by exposure to sand dust containing organic antigens, which was first diagnosed after the 1990 Gulf war. The relative importance of the silica particles themselves and the microorganisms that they carry in these health effects remains unclear.
Silicosis
Asbestosis
Coalworker's pneumoconiosis
Beryllium granuloma
Asbestos-related diseases
Occupational asthma
Pneumoconiosis
Organic dust toxic syndrome