Silicosis historical perspective
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Overview
- Hippocrates described a condition of “breathlessness” in miners, and in 1690, Lohneiss noted that when “the dust and stones fall upon the lungs, the men have lung disease,breathe with difficulty.” Bernardo Ramazzini studied so-called “miners’ phthisis,” and other trades of the day wherein workers inhaled substantial amounts of dusts. These dust-related afflictions have been known by various names, including “miners’ phthisis,” “dust consumption,” “mason’s disease,” “grinders’ asthma,” “potters’ rot,” and “stonecutters’ disease.” These problems are now collectively referred to as silicosis.[1]
Silicosis Historical Perspective
- The term Silicosis was first introduced by Visconti 1870, derived from the Latin word silex, or flint.
- Mining, tunneling, sand stone industry, stone quarrying and dressing, iron and steel foundries and flint crushing are the occupations most closely related to the hazards of silica exposure.
Silicosis Outbreaks
- In certain places in the world, an age-old scenario is being repeated. In the 16th century Agricola wrote of mines in the Carpathian mountains in Europe: "women are found to have married seven husbands, all of whom this terrible consumption (silico-tuberculosis) has carried off to a premature death". Only a few years ago certain villages in Northern Thailand were called "villages of widows" because of the large number of pestle-and-mortar-making workers who died early from silicosis
- Several epidemics of silicosis have been reported worldwide, including the United States. The worst epidemic of silicosis occurred in 1930-1931, during the construction of Gauley Bridge tunnel in West Virginia (also known as hawks nest tunnel disaster ), more than 400 of the estimated 2000 men who drilled rocks died of silicosis, and almost all the survivors developed silicosis.
- Also, the mining establishment of Delamar Ghost Town, Nevada was ruined by a dry-mining process that produced a silicosis-causing dust. After hundreds of deaths from silicosis, the town was nicknamed The Widowmaker. The problem in those days was somewhat resolved with an addition to the drill which sprayed a mist of water, turning dust raised by drilling into mud, but this inhibited mining work.[2]
References
- ↑ Karkhanis VS, Joshi JM (2013). "Pneumoconioses". Indian J Chest Dis Allied Sci. 55 (1): 25–34. PMID 23798087.
- ↑ "Silicosis".