Study Finds Evidence of Silica Disease Progression Following Cessation of Dust Exposure
Researchers Claim Rat Study Could Have Implications for Human Low-Dose Exposures

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - A recent study of rats exposed to silica dust may support the theory that lung inflammation and silica-induced pulmonary disease may progress in humans exposed to even permissible dust levels after exposures have ceased, the study's authors claim.

In a study published last month in the medical journal Toxicological Sciences, researchers suggest that there is a threshold level at which silica exposure no longer becomes necessary for the progression of silica-induced lung injury. According to the researchers, the findings support previous hypotheses indicating that relatively low silica exposures may pose serious health risks because silica-induced diseases, once …