The Exposure of Crystalline Silica on Workers in a Tiles and Bricks Industry - Lab Report Example

Health and Safety Laboratory Report By Student Name Course Tutor Institution Date Health and Safety Laboratory Report The widespread existence of silica in a variety of materials and naturally have greatly affected workers working in numerous industrial activities after an exposure to crystalline exposure. Crystalline silica has been known as being carcinogenic to humans. This concerns the possibility of lung carcinogenicity. Objective and method The study sought to investigate the exposure of Crystalline Silica on workers in a tiles and bricks industry, considering the age of the workers and the duration of service rendered by the workers in the factory. A sample of 65 workers from different age brackets and varying length of service in the factory was used. 38 of the workers in the sample worked exclusively on bricks while 27 workers had worked exclusively on tiles. Another qualification of the sample size stipulated that the workers were not smokers. Ho1-The key null hypothesis in the study was that the level of cell damage is directly correlated to the years of service in the brick and tiles industry and the age of the worker. Ha1-The alternative hypothesis is that the level of cell damage is independent of the sector, age of the worker, and years of service. Ho2- The second null hypothesis from the literature is that the workers from the two sectors have similar levels of cell damage and exposure to carcinogenic factors. Ha2- The alternative hypothesis for this is that workers from one sector may have a higher exposure to crystalline silica and thus higher cell damage. Results/Discussion Regression analysis shows that, the model indicate the level of cell damage in the respondents effectively. The mean square of rhe regression is higher than the residual mean square. Regression Coefficients Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. Model B Std. Error Beta (Constant) .894 .393 2.274 .026 Sector -.282 .251 -.130 -1.122 .266 Years of Service 0.0587 .020 .407 2.992 .004 Age of the respondent 0.0036 .011 .044 .324 .747 A Dependent Variable: Cell Damage The coefficients of the regression indicate that level of cell damage is directly related to years of service and age. The coefficient for years of service is .407 while that for age is 0.04. The t-values for the two coefficients are 2.992 and 0.324 consecutively. Which means the level of service is highly significant in determination of cell damage. This means the null hypothesis is not rejected and the alternative hypothesis is rejected because the level of cell damage is determined by years of service in the industry and the age of the worker. Age has a low level of importance. The analysis also shows that years of service has the highest level of significance in the model. The significance levels of the model indicate that the sector and the age of the respondent are the most significant in determining the level of cell damage. The significance values for the model indicate that there is a high level of cell damage caused by other factors besides the independent variables shown. The value of the constant in the model is 0.894 indicating that there exists a high level of cell damage, which is independent of the highlighted variables. This analysis shows that sector influences the occurrence of cell damage with the individuals in the brick sector having higher cell damage levels. The significance level of this variable is .266 indicating that its effect on the dependent variable is minimal. Collinearity Diagnostics Eigen value Condition Index Variance Proportions Model Dimension (Constant) Sector Years of Service Age of the respondent 1 1 3.217 1.000 .01 .03 .02 .01 2 .503 2.529 .00 .89 .09 .01 3 .237 3.686 .13 .07 .69 .02 4 0.0434 8.605 .86 .00 .20 .96 A Dependent Variable: Cell Damage The eigenvalues and the condition indices show that the data does not have a significant problem in relation to collinearity. This means the years of service, sector, and age are not significantly correlated and changes in one do not affect the other adversely. ANOVA A one-way analysis of variance was conducted to determine the level of variation between the group working in the tiles sector and that working in the bricks sector. The F-value for the variations between the two groups is .473 and the significance level of the ANOVA is 0.494. This means the differences across the two samples are not significant. It indicates that although there are slight variations in the data, the differences between the two groups are insignificant. This analysis shows that the null hypothesis has not been rejected. The data proves the null hypothesis by indicating that the rate of cell damage is not significantly different across the two sectors. This is because the f-value of the variations between groups is .473, which means the variations are insignificant. ANOVA Cell Damage Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Between Groups (Combined) .550 1 .550 .473 .494 Linear Term Unweighted .550 1 .550 .473 .494 Weighted .550 1 .550 .473 .494 Within Groups 73.172 63 1.161 Total 73.722 64 The exposure of individuals to crystalline silicon causes pulmonary fibrosis (Samimi, Weil and Ziskind, 1974). According to the results obtained, it was evident that a big percent of workers whose cell had been damaged are those who had worked in the bricks and tiles industry for a long time. In order to help the workers with damaged cells, a comprehensive patient evaluation is extremely significant. One of the most import factors of evaluation, of environmental and occupational history since fibrosis exposures is manifested in numerous settings (Miscetti, et al., 2011). The deliberate exclusion of smoking workers from the sample size had been aimed at reducing the prevailing causal agents of pulmonary fibrosis. According to the coefficient of regression obtained, the levels of crystalline silicon are high since the workers who have inhaled the compound for a long time (length of service), have a high percentage of cell damage than the rest. A fibrotic response can cause more than 200 lungs’ disorders (Weill, Jones and Parkers, 1994). Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is also referred to as the cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis (Castranova and Vallyathan, 2000). The aberrancy found in the alveolar epithelial cell produces the cytokine, which is responsible of remodeling the lungs. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is only found in the lungs as revealed by various histological patterns obtained through surgical biopsy. There exists a biological variation regarding the activities of crystalline silica among different industries explaining the question regarding the high value of contrast (0.894). This figure indicates that, there are existing factors that can cause cell damage other than the available independent valuables. Silicosis is also a disorder of the lungs caused much inhalation of silica particles. The Silica particles could be free or embedded in the crystalline silicon (Dart, 1946). It usually affects individuals who are exposed to these conditions over a long time since it is a progressive condition evidenced decades after one is exposed to silica (Miranda, McMillan, Pricolo, and Finkelstein, 1996). This disease is prevalent in numerous occupations including mining, brick industry and sand blasting. Among many other chronic occupational diseases, silicosis is most prevalent. Silica exists in numerous forms, which are categorized into amorphous and crystalline silica. In regards to the lung diseases, the crystalline form of silica are the most significant since it possesses large fibrinogenic properties. This property has a high likelihood of promoting fibrous scarring to the tissues of the lungs (O'Reilly, Phipps, Thatcher, Graf, Van Kirk, & Sime, 2005). This explains why most workers with cell damages are the one who have served the tiles and bricks industry the longest. The three kinds of silicosis includes, accelerated silicosis, chronic silicosis and the acute silicosis. The most prevalent case of silicosis affecting individuals is the chronic silicosis (Sato, Saito, Inuone, Shimosato, Takagi, and Kanako, 2012). It is a possibility that, the workers found to be having cell damage after a lengthy period of service in bricks and tiles industry could be suffering from chronic silicosis. Once individual contracts chronic silicosis, they remain asymptomatic for a period, and then the symptoms manifestation is apparent between 10 to 20 years after the initial exposure. The accelerated silicosis is aggressive in comparison to chronic silicosis since the patients’ manifestation of symptoms is about 5 to 10 years after exposure. The most aggressive form of silicosis is the acute silicosis (Borges, Lopes, Falcao, and Leite, 2002). Once an individual is exposed to colossal amounts the finest silica dust, symptoms are apparent a week or a month later. In our sample, it could be true to indicate that most of patients from suffering from chronic silicosis since the most affected workers are those who have had many years of service. Once the workers present in the bricks and tiles industry breathe the dust, the particles get in the lungs and interact with human epithelial cells of alveolar macrophages and lung parenchyma (Leung, Yu, and Chen, 2012). The cell damage occurs once the silica particle touches the lining of the epithelial cells leading to free radicals build up. The cells release numerous chemical mediators in return. The inflammation of the cells leads to confinement of the lung tissues through fibrotic scarring. Eventually, tiny lumps spread cross the upper zone of the lungs. These lumps then coalesce forming nodules until there a widespread fibrosis to the entire lungs is achieved. Conclusion The study indicates that the workers could be suffering from chronic silicosis. This is possible since the workers who have worked in the company for a long duration suffer the most cell damage. The study has also shown that the age of the workers in the brick and tiles industry is not dependent of the prevailing cell damage. Cell damage for workers in the brick and tiles industry could result from other factors, which are not included as the independent valuables provided for this study. There is a high likelihood of cell damage for workers in the brick industry than tiles indicating that high protective measures should be employed in the brick industry. The industry should introduce improved protective measures for their employees. Bibliography Borges, V. m., Lopes, M. F., Falcao, H., & Leite, J. H. (2002, July). Apoptosis underlies immunopathogenic mechanisms in acute silicosis. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology , pp. 78-84. Castranova, V., and Vallyathan, V. (2000). Silicosis and Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis. Environmental Health Perspectives , 108, pp.675-684. Dart, E. E. (1946). Silicosis. The American Journal of Nursing , 46 (10), pp. 671-673. Leung, C. C., Yu, I. T., and Chen, W. (2012). Silicosis. The Lacet , 379, pp. 2008-2018. Miscetti. G., Bodo. P., Garofani. P., Abbritti, E. P., Luciani. G., Mazzanti. M., et al. (2011). A survey on workers' individual exposure to crystalline silica in the building industry. 102 (4), pp370-381. Miranda, R. N., McMillan, P. N., Pricolo, V. E., and Finkelstein, S. D. (1996). Peritoneal Silicosis. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine , 120 (3), pp.300-302. O'Reilly, K. M., Phipps, R. P., Thatcher, T. H., Graf, B. A., Van Kirk, J. and Sime, P. J. (2005). Crystalline and amorphous silica differentially regulate the cyclooxygenase-prostaglandin pathway in pulmonary fibroblasts: implications for pulmonary fibrosis. American Journal Of Physiology. Lung Cellular And Molecular Physiology , 288 (6), pp. L1010-6. Sato, T., Saito, Y., Inuone, S., Shimosato, T., Takagi, S., & Kanako, T. (2012). Serum heme oxygenase-1 as a marker of lung function decline in patients with chronic silicosis. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine , 54 (12), pp.1461.  Samimi, B., Weil, H. and Ziskind, M. Respirable silica dust exposure of sandblasters and associated workers in steel fabrication yards. Arch Environ Health. 1974; 29:pp. 61-66.  Weill, H., Jones, RN. and Parkes, WR. Silicosis and related diseases. In: Parkes WR, ed.Occupational Lung Disorders, 3rd ed. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann; 1994: pp.285 Read More