We breathe in dust every day; it’s everywhere. However, the difference between everyday dust and silica dust is that normal dust is organic; it’s made up of biological elements, such as grass, pollen, and other natural components. Our bodies have mechanisms for filtering out the average amount of dust we breathe in on a daily basis. While an overabundance of organic dust can be irritating to our sinuses and lungs, the average dust we breathe in on a daily basis is filtered out by our bodies.

Silica dust, on the other hand, is inorganic. It’s an invisible, fine powder made up of crystalline silica particles. The particles are so fine that you may not even know you are breathing it in, and our bodies’ natural mechanisms against dust are unable to remove all of the silica dust from the body. It sits in our lungs and other organs and can lead to some pretty horrible long-term health problems.

Silica dust comes from working with—like cutting, drilling, or breaking—stone, bricks, tiles, concrete, and more. Since Tucker Paving encounters all of these in our Excavation and Demolition services, as well as through our work with concrete, we take silica safety seriously. We’re happy to share the reasons why silica dust is so harmful and the best ways we’ve found to prevent breathing in silica dust in the first place.

The Dangers of Silica

Silica dust can build up in your body over time, and it can lead to:

  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A lung disease that makes it hard to breathe and that can worsen over time. 
  • Kidney disease. Damage to the kidneys which causes waste and fluid to build up in the body; multi-weekly dialysis is required to stave off renal failure and death.
  • Silicosis. An irreversible scarring and stiffening of the lungs that causes fatigue, extreme shortness of breath, respiratory failure, and death.
  • Lung cancer. 

If you would like to live out your “golden years” able to breathe and walk freely, as free of pain as possible, and far from weekly doctor’s appointments as possible, then you should avoid breathing silicas at all costs.

Prevention

The best option is to avoid breathing silica dust. Tips to avoid breathing silica dust include:

  • Wear the appropriate PPE, such as dust masks and respirators rated for silica dust.
  • Remember that any dust cloud you see is larger than what is visible, because the silica dust particles are invisible. It’s only when the air is past the point of saturation that they become visible.
  • Position yourself to use the wind to your advantage so dust blows away from you, such as when sawing concrete.
  • Trucks and equipment should move slowly so as not to prevent stirring dust, especially near workers; reroute vehicles away from workers when possible.
  • Use a water truck to settle dust on site.
  • Use hose attachments or someone with a water sprayer to spray the blade when sawing concrete or asphalt with demolition saws to hold down dust.  
  • Regularly wipe down the inside of your vehicle or equipment to prevent dust buildup.

 At Tucker Paving, we have three decades in the asphalt and concrete paving industry, and safety will always be our primary concern. Contact us by calling (863) 299-2262, or use our contact form online, to inquire about help with your next project!