May Davies on sun 25 apr 99
Dear Margaret,
Silicosis is a very real health hazard for clay artists, and should not be
taken lightly. Most people who are of the opinion that "respirators are for
sissies" are not aware of the scientific ramifications of what really happens
in the lungs. At Alfred, I was told of an artist's dog that lived in the
studio. When the dog died, it was cremated, and when the kiln was opened,
there among the dog's ashes lay its lungs...
*fully calcined*!
I will explain how this happens:
Silica particles are shaped like razor sharp, dual-sided needles. When
foreign particles are in the lungs, the body sends antibodies to remove them,
bring them up to the cilia, the tiny hairs in the respiratory tract, and
surround them with mucous, so the foreign particles can be removed by
expectoration. These antibodies try to take hold of the sharp silica
particles, but are punctured by them instead, and thus destroyed. It does not
matter at what angle an antibody attempts to encompass a silica particle, the
result is the same.
This means that there is no way for these silica particles to be removed once
they are in your lungs, and they will continue to accumulate until your lung
capacity is compromised!! In addition, since your body is constantly sending
more and more antibodies which keep getting destroyed, your body is spinning
the wheel of its immune system and draining your precious energy. As a
potter, doesn't the muscle strain take enough of a drain on your energy and
endurance? You bet it does!! So protect your lungs!! If you want to maintain
your longevity, practice impeccable respiratory protection habits- remember,
those pacticles are .3 microns or less. This means that if you are wearing a
paper dust mask, as opposed to a respirator with a *particle filter*, most of
the dust is going right through!! Have you ever mixed up a batch or two of
clay or worked in the tesst lab for a few hours with a paper dust mask and,
at the end of that time, noticed how much clay was on the outside? Did you
also notice that the mucous in your nose was the color of the clay you were
working with? That means that you were inhaling silica, and guess how much
you inhaled? 2-4 times as much as what was trapped by the mask and your nose
hair!!!
I had an OSHA training class in addition to what was taught at Alfred. Get a
HEPA filter installed in your workplace... contact OSHA to get specs, and
PLEASE do a search in AltaVista or another search engine to find out as much
as you can about silicosis since you have been exposing yourself for so long.
Symptoms would include, but may not be limited to; fatigue, shortness of
breath, chronic cough, decrease in lung capacity, compromised respiratory
endurance (easily winded), and lowered immune system (easily susceptible to
colds, or other dis-ease).
I hope this info helped- sorry the response was slow- I have been out of town
for a few days.
May Davies
p.s. I would be interested in knowing if you are anywhere near Charleston-
I have family there.
Martin Howard on mon 26 apr 99
May Davies gives us a very good explanation of why silica dust is worse
than most other dusts.
However, if you live or work within 1 or 2 kilometres of a factory farm,
broilers seem to be the worst, you will be taking in and depositing in
the lungs other large quantities of dust of a biological nature. Perhaps
an investigation could differentiate the types of dust and so detect
which source is the cause of current and future problems.
I have been working on the pollution caused by factory farms for the
last 12 years.
Martin Howard
Webbs Cottage Pottery and Press
Woolpits Road, Great Saling
BRAINTREE
Essex CM7 5DZ
01371 850 423
araneajo@gn.apc.org
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