Pneumoconiosis

Generality

Pneumoconiosis are lung diseases that arise as a result of prolonged inhalation of organic and non-organic dust.

Pneumoconiosis is a group of diseases caused by the chronic inhalation, for work reasons, of dust capable of causing lung damage. From the site: legalnewsdaily.net

Belonging to the category of occupational diseases, pneumoconiosis are characterized by their slow and gradual onset, and by the permanent damage they cause to the lungs.
The main symptoms of pneumoconiosis are: dyspnoea, chest pain, recurrent tiredness and cyanosis. At an advanced stage, severe pneumoconiosis can also lead to lung cancer.
Doctors use a thorough "work history and some imaging tests to make a correct diagnosis."
Unfortunately, pneumoconiosis currently remains an incurable disease.

What is pneumoconiosis

Pneumoconiosis is the term used to indicate a group of lung diseases, which are caused by the prolonged and continuous inhalation of organic and non-organic dust.
Pneumoconiosis are diseases whose consequences appear very slowly. Sometimes, in fact, even more than 10 years can pass since the sick subject was constantly exposed to harmful dust. It is for this reason that people with pneumoconiosis are usually individuals over the age of 50.

MAIN CONSEQUENCES OF PNEUMOCONIOSIS

The most severe pneumoconiosis (malignant forms) are responsible for pulmonary granulomatosis and pulmonary fibrosis.

Pulmonary granulomatosis is a condition characterized by the appearance of granulomas in the lungs. Granulomas are circumscribed and nodular proliferations of connective tissue, which are formed as a result of an immune reaction. In pneumoconiosis, the appearance of granulomas is caused by the toxic dust particles that reach the lungs and cause inflammation (granulomas from exogenous foreign bodies).
Pulmonary fibrosis, on the other hand, is a disease marked by hardening and scarring of the lung tissue that surrounds and interposes between the alveoli. From the histological point of view, the normal lung tissue disappears and is progressively replaced by so-called fibrotic tissue.

Pulmonary granulomatosis and pulmonary fibrosis make the lungs inelastic and prevent normal breathing.
Therefore, patients with pneumoconiosis suffer from more or less severe respiratory disorders, depending on the number of granulomas present and the extent of the fibrotic tissue.

What are the alveoli?
The alveoli, more correctly called pulmonary alveoli, are small cavities of the lungs, in which gas exchanges between the blood and the atmosphere take place. Inside the alveoli, in fact, the blood is enriched with the oxygen contained in the breathed air and is "freed" of the carbon dioxide discarded by the tissues, after their spraying.

PNEUMOCONIOSIS ARE PROFESSIONAL DISEASES

Pneumoconiosis is part of the list of so-called occupational diseases (or technopathies). An occupational disease is a pathology that an individual contracts during his work activity, due to the presence of harmful factors in the work environment.

The use of so-called PPE (personal protective equipment), such as masks, overalls, goggles and gloves, is extremely important to safeguard the health of workers exposed to the risk of pneumoconiosis

Occupational diseases differ from accidents at work, in that the latter tend to occur immediately, while the former develop over time and gradually.

Attention: those who were diagnosed with pneumoconiosis, due to work carried out in the past, can apply for a "professional disability."

Causes

Pneumoconiosis is caused by the inhalation of dust, fumes and substances containing silica, chromium, barium, graphite, coal, iron, tin, cobalt, asbestos, beryllium, cotton, malt, hay, barley, flax or hemp. prolonged inhalation is harmful to the lungs are very numerous.

TYPES OF PNEUMOCONIOSIS

Doctors and researchers have given pneumoconiosis different specific names, depending on the type of dust that is continuously inhaled.
Therefore, there are:

Silicosis, due to the inhalation of silica dust.
Asbestosis, due to inhalation and contact with asbestos and its powders.
Berylliosis, due to inhalation and exposure to beryllium.
Bissinosis, caused by the inhalation of cotton, linen or hemp dust.
Siderosis, caused by the "inhalation of ferruginous dust. Siderosis in the lungs is also commonly called" welders' lung ".
Kaolinosis (or kaolin pneumoconiosis), induced by the inhalation of kaolin powder.
Anthracosis, due to inhalation and contact with coal.
Stannosis, caused by the inhalation of tin dust.
Bauxite pneumoconiosis (or bauxite fibrosis), due to the inhalation of bauxite dust, a rock that mainly contains aluminum and silica.
Baritosis, induced by the inhalation of barium powders.
Silicosiderosis, caused by the inhalation of silica and ferruginous dust.
Hard metal pneumoconiosis, induced by the inhalation of metal powders such as cobalt or tungsten.
Graphitosis, caused by the inhalation of graphite powders.

SILICOSIS

Silica is a compound of silicon (Si), contained in many minerals commonly found in nature and which, together with oxygen, represent a large part of the earth's crust. They contain silica: sand, granite and sandstone rocks, flint , slate and many raw minerals.
As long as they are not processed, these minerals and rocks are harmless. When they are drilled, cut and / or crushed, they produce dust which, if inhaled for a long time and for many years, damages the lung tissue.
The people most at risk of silicosis are:

Those who work in the mines, because they come into daily contact with minerals and quartz rocks.
Those who work in the quarries of granite, gravel, sand and sandstone rocks.
Potters and glassmakers
Farmers
Steel and foundry workers
Those who work in the ship and railway industry
Those who work in cement factories

ASBESTOSI

Asbestos, or asbestos, is a set of minerals (inosilicates and phyllosilicates), arranged in elongated bodies called fibers.
With the manipulation of asbestos, the metal fibers that constitute it can be dispersed in the air and easily inhaled by those in the vicinity.
The easy dispersion of asbestos fibers in the air is due to the shape and small size of the fibers themselves.
Before its abolition, asbestos was widely used in industrial plants, for its resistance to fire, acids, microorganisms and wear, and for its ductility.
The places of greatest exposure to asbestos were:

The cement plants that produced Eternit
The textile industries where asbestos and derivatives based cloths, coveralls and gloves were produced
Shipyards and railways
Building installations
Industries for friction materials, such as brakes and clutches
Quarries for the extraction of the minerals that make up asbestos

KAOLIN PNEUMOCONIOSIS (OR KAOLINOSIS)

Kaolin is a rock consisting mainly of kaolinite, a hydrosilicate mineral of aluminum.
Kaolin is widely used in the production of ceramic products and in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and paper fields.

ANTHRACOSIS AND SIDEROSIS

The people most at risk of anthracosis are those who work in coal mines and who are responsible for transporting the latter.

As for siderosis, however, the people most exposed to this pneumoconiosis are those who work in the steel industries, foundries or iron mines.

Symptoms and Complications

Typical symptoms and signs of pneumoconiosis are:

Sense of tightness and chest pain
Dyspnea (shortness of breath), both with exertion (exertional dyspnea) and at rest (dyspnea at rest)
Chronic dry cough
Chronic bronchitis
Respiratory problems
Fatigue and a sense of tiredness
Cyanosis
Pulmonary emphysema
Increased heart rate (tachycardia)
Bronchial noises

The speed of onset and the severity of the aforementioned pathological manifestations depend on several factors, including:

The time of exposure to a given dust / substance. Clearly, the longer in time an individual has come into contact with harmful dust, the more severe the symptomatological picture will be.
The heterogeneity of harmful dust inhaled during work. Often, those who work in industrial plants, miners or potters are exposed, during their working life, to various toxic substances capable of giving pneumoconiosis. This accelerates the processes of pulmonary granulomatosis and pulmonary fibrosis, and deepens the consequences in the lungs.

COMPLICATIONS

During their course, various pneumoconiosis (for example silicosis) are accompanied by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), tuberculosis and autoimmune diseases (scleroderma or rheumatoid arthritis).
In addition, a prolonged situation of pulmonary fibrosis can lead to the onset of other serious pathological conditions, such as pulmonary hypertension, cor pulmonale, respiratory failure and lung cancer (or lung cancer).

Continuous inhalation of some dusts causes not only pneumoconiosis, but also other serious diseases. Asbestos, for example, can cause asbestosis, but also pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma.

Diagnosis

Premise: if an individual presents respiratory problems and claims to have carried out, for long years, a work activity considered to be at risk, doctors are required to suspect a pneumoconiosis and to shed light on the origin of the disorders.

Chest x-ray of an individual with anthracosis. The arrows indicate the areas of the lungs modified by the inhalation of coal dust.

The diagnostic protocol for pneumoconiosis provides, first of all, an "accurate work history. This means that the doctor will ask the patient for information relating to the industrial sector in which he served, the duties performed, the tasks to which he was assigned and the duration of the" work activity (to get an idea of how long the exposure to toxic substances lasted).
At the end of the medical history (N.B: the contribution that family members can provide is also important), the doctor

Analyze the symptoms and signs accused by the patient (dyspnea, cough and bronchial noises are the most significant manifestations)
Prescribes imaging tests, such as chest x-ray or CT scan (if chest x-ray is unclear)
Evaluate lung function
Prescribes a lung biopsy

An accurate diagnosis also serves to establish the severity of the ongoing pneumoconiosis. Knowing the severity of the disease allows you to plan the most appropriate therapy.

Treatment

Unfortunately, pneumoconiosis are incurable diseases, the consequences of which, at the level of the lungs, are irreversible. For example, the scar tissue that forms as a result of pulmonary fibrosis is permanent.
However, although recovery is impossible, with appropriate symptomatic therapy it is possible to alleviate the ailments and slow the progression of the disease.
Among the possible treatments, we mention corticosteroid drugs and immunosuppressants, oxygen therapy, respiratory rehabilitation and, finally, lung transplantation (reserved for the most serious cases).
Regarding lifestyle, patients are advised to stop smoking (if they are smokers), avoid places frequented by smokers and adopt a healthy diet.

Prevention

Reducing the risk of pneumoconiosis to zero is difficult, if not impossible. The production of toxic dust should be minimized and exposed workers should be fully protected.
The prevention and protection measures, to be adopted in workplaces at risk, consist of:

Provide workers with appropriate protective masks to prevent dust inhalation.
Keep the levels of harmful dust circulating in the air to a minimum.
Ventilate the work environment in a suitable manner and periodically.
Establish a plan for periodic sanitization of the workplace and of the clothing used by workers (overalls, gloves, masks, etc.).
Prepare a department (or area), where workers can wash and clean themselves adequately from dust residues, before leaving the workplace.