Silica Cleanup

Silica is the second most common mineral on Earth and is found in sand and quartz. In the construction industry, crystalline silica can be found in bricks, concrete, granite, and sandblasting abrasives. When crystalline silica becomes ground into dust through actions like drilling, it can easily become airborne causing negative health effects like bronchitis and lung cancer.

What is Silica?

Tiles, granite, brick, concrete, grout, mortar, paint, asphalt contain Crystalline Silica. Silica is a commonly found mineral that makes up sand and rock and many clouds of dust contain it as well. When latent, silica is harmless but when disturbed and inhaled it can become a health hazard.

What are the Dangers?

A Lengthy inhalation of Silica can thicken the lining of your lungs causing them to become a cloudy mass and lose the ability to inflate and contract, making it difficult to breathe. This would feel as if you were breathing through a straw. The hazardous outcome is called silicosis, which is a disabling or even fatal lung disease. Exposure to silica has also been linked to bronchitis, tuberculosis and lung cancer.

The primary danger of prolonged exposure to Silica is thickening of the lining of the lungs to Silica dust causing it to become opaque and lose the ability to expand and contract as if you were breathing through a straw. This could eventually lead to silicosis, bronchitis, tuberculosis and lung cancer.