Autoimmune diseases, asbestos, silica, dust...

[wooddustaffected]

isu.edu/magazine/fall10/asb...

[wooddustaffected]

More...Just a few of many.......for the doubters 😊 Either click on the link or cut and paste into your browser (might be best)…

ndt.oxfordjournals.org/cont... Main et al 2004

‘.…There is an established link between silica exposure and the development of systemic vasculitis. There is no clear quantification of the risk of exposure, or how to protect workers against it. We report three cases of systemic vasculitis from similar workplaces and a dilemma relating to the son of one of the cases.

Case 1

A 37-year-old man presented to his GP in July 1987 complaining of a 1-month history of a blocked nose and oral ulceration. He had worked as a quarryman for several years, often in the same quarry as cases 2 and 3. During this time, he was exposed to dust from silica rich sandstone. A nasal biopsy showed ulceration consistent with Wegener’s granulomatosis.....'

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news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/...

....Dr John Main is Consultant Doctor who specialises in silica related renal diseases.. ‘.…The researchers say it is likely that kidney disease is caused by lower levels of silica than those required to cause silicosis.

Dr Main told BBC News Online: "The silica does not necessarily need to be physically in the kidneys to cause disease there - although it could easily get there via the bloodstream.

"It is possible that the silica sets off a generalised immune reaction, and products of the immune system then lodge in the filters in the kidneys, leading to their eventual destruction."

Dr Main stressed that most people exposed to silica in this way do not get significant renal disease.

"Presumably some people have an inherited susceptibility to kidney disease which is only triggered by prolonged low level exposure to silica."...’

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This one mentions crystalline silica causing WG and silicosis and autoimmune disease, etc. Not often you get that…. so don't lose it. 😊

MSDS | Products | Short Mountain Silica

shortmtnsilica.com/msds.html

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Extract taken from the HSE website .….'… Silica exposure can also cause cancers and autoimmune diseases….’

Inspector unearths more dust disease - silica

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Andrea Robbins has unearthed a second case of a stonemason suffering a potentially fatal dust disease. Dunhouse Quarry Co Ltd of Staindrop, Darlington, was fined £3,750 and ordered to pay costs of £8,177.40 after an unannounced inspection by Ms Robbins discovered the employee had contracted silicosis and that a number of others had been exposed to levels of respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in excess of the workplace exposure limit. Silica dust levels had previously been found to be over 100 times than the current legal exposure limit. In October, Robert Thomas Charlton, trading as Border Stone Quarries, was fined £6,000 plus £7,602 costs at Tynedale Magistrates' Court, after Ms Robbins discovered another case of silicosis in a stonemason at a separate quarry (Risks 327). 'Breathing in the very fine dust of crystalline silica can lead to the development of silicosis, which in its most acute form can result in premature death,' she said. 'It is vital employers monitor dust levels to assess the risk of exposure to RCS, and that they put control measures in place to reduce the levels to which employees are exposed, and consequently reduce their risk of developing silicosis.' Commenting on the latest prosecution, she said: 'What makes this particular situation worse is that the company had previously commissioned the services of an external company to carry out atmospheric monitoring of dust levels, including RCS but did nothing to act upon the findings despite one employee being exposed to levels up to 45 times the maximum exposure limit as it was then, which was three times higher than the current workplace exposure limit. This prosecution serves to publicise the need for employers to be vigilant in identifying substances which can affect their workers' health.' Silica exposure can also cause cancer and autoimmune diseases.

• HSE news release......’

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Neyer U, Woss E, Neuweiler J. Wegener’s granulomatosis associated with silicosis. Nephrol Dial Transplant 1994;9(5):559-61.

NB…2015…Dr Neyer I spoke to only a few weeks ago, even then he concluded that exposure to c/silica causes autoimmune disease.

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Nuyts GD, Van Vlem E, De Vos A, et al. Wegener granulomatosis is associated to exposure to silicon compounds: a case-control study. Nephrol Dial Transplant 1995;10(7):1162-5.

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Brown JM, Archer AJ, Pfau JC, Holian A. Silica accelerated systemic autoimmune disease in lupusprone New Zealand mixed mice. Clin Exp Immunol 2003;131(3):415-21.

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Parks CG, Conrad K, Cooper GS. Occupational exposure to crystalline silica and autoimmune disease. Environ Health Perspect 1999;107 Suppl 5:793-802.

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Hogan SL, Cooper GS, Savitz DA, et al. Association of silica exposure with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody small-vessel vasculitis: a populationbased, case-control study. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 2007;2(2):290-9.

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'…Silica Nephropathy...’2012…N. Ghahramani....theijoem.com…vol 3 page 108… '...Occupational exposure to high-levels of silica is associated with higher rates of autoimmune diseases compared to the general population. Silica nephropathy, mainly in the form of glomerulonephritis, has also been reported to occur in the setting of autoimmune multisystem diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), scleroderma, Goodpasture’s syndrome,14 polyarteritis nodosa,15 systemic vasculitis,16 and c-ANCA-positive Wegener’s granulomatosis17. It is estimated that 25%–50% of patients with pulmonary silicosis might demonstrate an elevated antinuclear antibody .................Occupational exposure to silica dust and actual silicosis have been linked to several multisystem autoimmune diseases. Individuals with silicosis manifest a significantly increased risk for rheumatoid arthritis,26 progressive systemic sclerosis,27,28 polyarteritis nodosa,15 SLE, connective tissue disease,29 ANCA-associated small vessel vasculitis30 and Wegener’s granulomatosis31. The association between silica exposure and Wegener’s granulomatosis is particularly remarkable. Inhalation of silica and grain dust was associated with a seven-fold risk of development of Wegener’s granulomatosis.31 Arnalich, et al, have described a 55-year-old man with silicosis who presented with massive proteinuria, microscopic hematuria, moderate renal failure and distal polyneuropathy. Renal angiography showed multiple intraparenchymal saccular aneurysms; renal biopsy showed focal segmental necrotizing glomerulonephritis and arteriolitis—findings consistent with polyarteritis nodosa.15 A manifestation consistent with connective tissue disease and silica-related renal disease has been reported by several authors. Among four patients with proteinuria and rapidly progressive renal failure in the setting of silica exposure, three had manifestations of connective tissue disease. Light microscopic findings of renal biopsy showed glomerular hypercellularity and sclerosis, crescents, interstitial cellular infiltrates and tubular necrosis. Electron microscopy revealed foot process effacement, cytoplasmic dense lysosomes, microtubules and dense deposits. Two of the four patients died and one progressed to ESRD, requiring dialysis.29 In a study to evaluate the association of lifetime silica exposure with development of ANCA-associated small vessel vasculitis, a population-based case-control study was conducted by Hogan, et al.30 Silica exposure was found in 78 (60%) of 129 case patients and in 49 (45%) of 109 control

subjects, with an increased risk with high exposure (OR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.0–3.5; p = 0.05); crop harvesting was associated with elevated risk (OR: 2.5; 95% CI: 1.1–5.4; p = 0.03). The impact of silica exposure on exacerbation of systemic autoimmunity was studied in a mouse model susceptible to SLE. Compared to controls, survival in silica-exposed mice was decreased, circulating immune complexes showed a trend towards an increased acceleration in level; ANA levels, and autoantibodies to histone were significantly higher.32 There was an increased in the inflammatory infiltrates and fibrosis with excess collagen deposition in the lungs of the silica-exposed mice. These findings confirm the impact of silica exposure on exacerbating the course of SLE.32 ........…However, most evidence is consistent with the interplay of at least two mechanisms:36 the direct toxic effect of the deposited crystalline material in the renal parenchyma and an autoimmune process involving interaction of silica particles with the immune system, mainly by activation of macrophages through which the kidneys are affected.37 The non-degradable nature of silica leads to saturation of the macrophages and it has been demonstrated that macrophages that ingest silica release factors that increase biosynthesis by fibroblasts.28 A possible explanation for the development of nephritis in the setting of granulomatous pulmonary nodules is the triggering of a mal-adaptive immunological response to a component of the silica-containing nodules.38 Confirming this response is the serologic evidence for various forms of autoimmune processes in patients with occupational lung disease.39

Www.theijoem.com N. Ghahramani