If I were to ask you what environmental hazards you are concerned about in your workplace, most likely you might respond with answers like mold, lead, or asbestos. While these are all potential hazards in many buildings, a more common but equally serious hazard is exposure to crystalline silica dust. In fact, the symptoms and lung damage of Silicosis, the lung disease most often associated with exposure to crystalline silica dust, are so similar to asbestosis that only an autopsy can definitively tell the difference by identifying whether the contaminant that caused the lung damage was asbestos or crystalline silica. Additionally, the latency period of disease from very high exposure to crystalline silica (acute silicosis), as little as a few weeks to months (CDC, 2024), is much shorter than the typical 10-40 years (Asbestos Toxicity: What Respiratory Conditions Are Associated with Asbestos? | Environmental Medicine | ATSDR, 2023)of asbestosis.
What is crystalline silica? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines crystalline silica as follows: “Crystalline silica is a common mineral found in many naturally occurring materials and used in many industrial products and at construction sites. Materials like sand, concrete, stone and mortar contain crystalline silica. Crystalline silica is also used to make products such as glass, pottery, ceramics, bricks, concrete and artificial stone. Industrial sand used in certain operations, such as foundry work and hydraulic fracturing (fracking), is also a source of crystalline silica exposure.” (Silica, Crystalline – Frequently Asked Questions on the New Silica Standards | Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2018)
Workers are commonly exposed to crystalline silica when crystalline silica containing materials are broken down into small enough components to release respirable particles into the air. Sawing, cutting, crushing, pulverizing, or grinding concrete are some of the more commonly known causes of exposure in the workplace. But grinding and polishing stone countertops, mining, rock crushing, and sanding drywall joint compound are less commonly known sources of silica dust exposure. Approximately 2.3 million workers are exposed to silica in the workplace. (US Labor Department Announces Final Rule to Improve U.S. Workers’ Protection from the Dangers of “Respirable” Silica Dust, 2025) This increases their risk of pulmonary diseases such as silicosis and lung cancer as well as kidney disease and auto-immune disorders.
OSHA has required certain actions to be taken by employers to protect workers from crystalline silica exposure in construction such as:
(Silica, Crystalline – Construction | Occupational Safety and Health Administration, n.d.)
(Silica in Construction, 2016)
(Construction Silica Exposures and Solutions, n.d.)
How can The IEP Group help?
The IEP Group commonly performs silica dust exposure studies. This is a process during which workers wear personal air sampling pumps with collection cartridges placed in the breathing zones. The sampling apparatus is worn throughout a normal work shift while performing normal work duties to provide time-weighted exposure data. In the event the exposure is above the permissible exposure limit (PEL), The IEP Group will use this exposure data in conjunction with applicable OSHA guidelines to develop recommendations for corrective actions to be taken, such as additional PPE to be used (commonly, use of a half or full face respirator) and/or additional engineering controls such as misting or additional ventilation or filtration. In the event the data indicates silica exposure below the PEL, The IEP Group will use the data as the basis for a negative exposure assessment to document that the measures in place at the time of the assessment were sufficient to protect workers and allow for work to continue without any additional PPE or engineering controls.
Exposure to crystalline silica is a serious health risk. Exposure is preventable with use of proper PPE and engineering controls. The first step is to find out if you or your workers are being exposed to crystalline silica through a silica dust exposure study. This generally takes place over a common work shift and ideally involves at least one employee performing distinct tasks where exposure may be possible. The IEP Group personnel will fit the workers with monitoring equipment, monitor the use of the equipment throughout the day, document the conditions throughout the workplace during the study, and provide a written report detailing findings and recommendations if applicable.
References
Silica, Crystalline – Frequently Asked Questions on the New Silica Standards | Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2018). Osha.gov. https://www.osha.gov/silica-crystalline/background-info
Silica, Crystalline – Construction | Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). Www.osha.gov. https://www.osha.gov/silica-crystalline/construction
Silica in Construction Toolkit. (2016). Nahb.org. https://www.nahb.org/Advocacy/Public-Toolkits/Silica-in-Construction-Toolkit
Construction Silica Exposures and Solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2026, from https://depts.washington.edu/silica/pdf/ConstructionSilicaExposureSolutions.pdf
US Labor Department announces final rule to improve U.S. workers’ protection from the dangers of “respirable” silica dust. (2025). DOL. https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20160324
CDC.(2024). Symptoms and Medical Monitoring. Silica. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/silica/symptoms/index.html
Asbestos Toxicity: What Respiratory Conditions Are Associated with Asbestos? | Environmental Medicine | ATSDR. (2023, May 25). Cdc.gov. https://archive.cdc.gov/www_atsdr_cdc_gov/csem/asbestos/respiratory_conditions_associated_with_asbestos.html
