Prevalence of silicosis among employees in feldspat and quartz mills and associated factors with silicosis

Problems in legal definition and diagnosis of occupational diseases in Turkey makes the diagnosis of these diseases and informing the parties important. For this purpose, this study was planned to elicit the frequency of silicosis in quartz mill workers in Cine which is one of the largest quartz and feldspat areas, and to detect the working conditions, to inform the workers to improve the working conditions. The aim was to evaluate 592 workers in 10 quartz mill and mines around Cine in 2004. A structured questionnaire including personal information and work-related questions was applied. Standards chest X-rays taken in the last six months were evaluated according to International Labour Organization (ILO) 1980 standards. Dust concentration and respirable dust concentration in the work place were measured in enterprises. The mean age of the workers was 31.8 ± 8.26 years and 71.7% was smoker. Duration of working was ≤ 5 years in 80.5% and ≥ 10 years in only 4.2%. According to the results of dust measurements, threshold value was found to be exceeded in chopping, packaging and bagging parts of three workplaces. Frequency of silicosis was calculated to be 23.7%. Frequency of pneumoconiosis was found to be high like previous studies carried out in similar workplaces in this study. Although it was impossible to put forward the cumulative effect of dust exposure because of frequent altering in workplace, the high frequency of working in similar workplaces among the cases supported the significant risk of silicosis in these enterprises. The workplaces were observed after the workers and persons responsible from occupational health and safety.