Burden of Silicosis among stone crushing workers in India

Abstract

Background In North India, the mining industry is disorganized and profit-driven. It predisposes its workers towards the development of silicosis. Haryana, a major North Indian state, has developed a compensation–rehabilitation policy for mining workers. Aims This study is the review of the policy’s functioning and limitation from the first 4 years of implementation. Method The labour department does surveillance of workers in the mining industry. All suspected cases of silicosis are evaluated by a multidisciplinary team. Based on the final diagnosis, the compensation is decided. Result Nearly 5000 workers were screened, and 729 appeared before the medical board. Of these 729, 465 were having silicosis, and their data are presented here (data of 7 patients were missing). All workers were males. The mean age was 44.54 ± 9.6 years, and the mean exposure (work experience) was 17.25 ± 6.7 years. Most of the workers were between the age of 40 and 50 years and had exposure for 10–20 years. Chest radiography examination showed that progressive massive fibrosis (large size type C opacities) was the most common type of presentation (23%). Smaller opacities (p, q, r and s, t, u) were combined for further analysis, given their similar prognostic significance. It was found that age and experience both had a linear and significant correlation with the severity of lung involvement. Conclusions Nearly a quarter of subjects were suffering from the worst type of lung involvement at screening itself. The policy has laid a foundation for the welfare of workers, but there is still a long way to go.

Prevalence and determinants of evidence of silicosis and impaired lung function, among small scale tanzanite miners and the peri-mining community in northern Tanzania

“…A retrospective hospital-based data analysis among patients admitted due respiratory conditions at KCMC from August 2010 to August 2020, revealed the prevalence of silicosis of 14.3% [22], about half of what has been reported from the current study. Studies among other populations have reported a lower prevalence, including that among stone crushers in Haryana, India of around 6.4% [23] and gold miners in South Africa 19.9% [24]. Our selection criteria meant that current study participants were all engaging in drilling of rocks (though in real practice, there is task shifting in which most of the workers will do different work at varying times, including blasting and shovelling of rocks) and given the complete absence of dust reduction mechanisms, including not using water spray during drilling and poorly ventilated mining pits, it could explain this high level of silicosis observed.…”

Current status, trends, and predictions in the burden of silicosis in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019

“…Another study estimated that approximately 3 million individuals out of 8.5 million construction and building workers in India, are at risk of exposure to silica dust ( 15 ). An observatory study demonstrated that among the 729 silica-exposed individuals in India who underwent medical screening, 465 workers were diagnosed with silicosis with a median age of 45 years ( 16 ). The South African miner association pledged to eliminate silicosis, with the goal of no new cases by 2013.…”

Stone mining work and dust pollution in Birbhum district, West Bengal, India

“…Similar findings were also reported by Mukherjee et al (2005) in coal mines using FT-IR spectroscopy. Begum et al (2022) determined that exposure to such hazardous elements in the workplace posed potential threats to the workers including severe lung impairments (Govindagoudar et al, 2022). Studies conducted in granite mines (Singh et al, 2010), zinc mines (Chauhan, 2010), sandstone mines (Nandi et al, 2021) and coal mines (Mishra and Das, 2017) in India also reported that the concentration of such dust was beyond tolerable limit/acceptable standard in the workplace.…”