Respiratory Health and Silica Exposure of Stone Carvers in Thailand

High prevalence of silicosis among stone carvers in Brazil

“…The carving process in our country differs from that described on the few reports about silicosis among lapidary workers [Ng et al, 1985[Ng et al, , 1987Chapman and Tracey, 1989;Rastogi et al, 1991;White et al, 1991;Jiang et al, 2001;Yingratanasuk et al, 2002].…”

“…Recently, a prevalence of 2% was described among stone sculptors in Thailand, who were exposed to lower levels of dust, when compared to workers in our study [Yingratanasuk et al, 2002]. The high prevalence found in our population can be explained by several adverse work conditions.…”

“…The manufacturing of jade ornaments has also been associated with silicosis in Hong Kong, but the disease was attributed to the use of silica flour as an abrasive, rather than stone cutting or grinding [Ng et al, 1985[Ng et al, , 1987. Recently, silicosis in stone carvers has been described in Thailand [Yingratanasuk et al, 2002].…”

Determination of Exposure to Respirable Quartz in the Stone Crushing Units at Azendarian-West of Iran

“…Over one-third of the samples exceeds the Mine Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit for quartz and half of the samples exceeded the NIOSH recommended exposure limit. The concentration of quartz at stone carvers in Thailand was also reported 0.5-8 times greater than ACGIH-TLV depending job and site because of the using grinding tools with no ventilation 15) .…”

An Ergonomics Study on Posture-Related Discomfort and Occupational-Related Disorders Among Stonecutters of West Bengal, India

“…According to their research, chronic asthma was reported among stonecutters and setters. Yingratanasuk, Seixas, Barnhart, et al stated in their research that decreased lung function was observed among stonecutters [35].…”