ArticleOccupational and environmental medicine2023
Prevalence and risk factors for silicosis among a large cohort of stone benchtop industry workers.
Article in Occupational and environmental medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic accuracy of chest X-ray screening for silicosis: a systematic review, meta-analysis and modelling study.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Artificial stone and silicosis: the Korean experience.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2026Review
- Evaluating the efficacy of prednisolone for silicosis with progressive massive fibrosis in Australia: an observational pilot study.Annals of occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Article
- Splenic silicosis, a rare extrapulmonary manifestation of occupational silica exposure: A case report.Multidisciplinary respiratory medicine · 2026Article
- Occupational disease disparities by migration status: comparison of migrant and non-migrant workers in the Australian artificial stone benchtop industry.Annals of work exposures and health · 2026Article
- Evaluation of occupational exposure to airborne quartz in the cutting and grinding of ceramic tiles.Annals of work exposures and health · 2026Article
- Pulmonary inflammatory and fibrogenic responses in rats following intratracheal instillation of dusts from natural and engineered stones.Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part A · 2026Article
- Prevalence of chronic respiratory disease symptoms and associated occupational risk factors among certified silicosis patients of Rajasthan.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Silicosis Surveillance in California, 2019-2024: Tracking an Epidemic.American journal of public health · 2025Article
- Silica Hazards in Engineered Stone Countertop Production: Worker Experiences and Challenges in Los Angeles.American journal of industrial medicine · 2025Article
- Silicosis research priorities for health care, research, and health and safety professionals, and for people exposed to silica in Australia: a research priority setting exercise.The Medical journal of Australia · 2025Article
- Silica exposures and silicosis incidence in the Western Australia mining industry.Occupational medicine (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Global epidemiology and burden of interstitial lung disease.The Lancet. Respiratory medicine · 2025Review
- Article
- Physico-chemical features and membranolytic activity of dust from low or no crystalline silica engineered stone with implications for toxicological assessment.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Respirable dust and respirable crystalline silica exposures among workers at stone countertop fabrication shops in Georgia from 2017 through 2023.Annals of work exposures and health · 2025Article
- Silicosarcoidosis: Histologic and Clinical Features of an Occupational Granulomatous Disease.American journal of industrial medicine · 2025Article
- Homoharringtonine exerts anti-silicosis potential by inhibiting the CCR1 and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways in lung fibroblasts.Journal of biomedical research · 2025Article
- The Rapid Rise of Silicosis in Victoria, Australia Associated With Artificial Stone Countertop Industry Work.American journal of industrial medicine · 2025Article
- A review of silicosis and other silica-related diseases in the engineered stone countertop processing industry.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesHigh silica content artificial stone has been found to be associated with silicosis among stone benchtop industry (SBI) workers. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for silicosis among a large cohort of screened SBI workers, and determine the reliability of respiratory function testing (RFT) and chest x-ray (CXR) as screening tests in this industry.
methodsSubjects were recruited from a health screening programme available to all SBI workers in Victoria, Australia. Workers undertook primary screening, including an International Labour Office (ILO) classified CXR, and subject to prespecified criteria, also underwent secondary screening including high-resolution CT (HRCT) chest and respiratory physician assessment.
resultsAmong 544 SBI workers screened, 95% worked with artificial stone and 86.2% were exposed to dry processing of stone. Seventy-six per cent (414) required secondary screening, among whom 117 (28.2%) were diagnosed with silicosis (median age at diagnosis 42.1 years (IQR 34.8-49.7)), and all were male. In secondary screening, silicosis was associated with longer SBI career duration (12 vs 8 years), older age, lower body mass index and smoking. In those with silicosis, forced vital capacity was below the lower limit of normal in only 14% and diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide in 13%. Thirty-six (39.6%) of those with simple silicosis on chest HRCT had an ILO category 0 CXR.
conclusionScreening this large cohort of SBI workers identified exposure to dry processing of stone was common and the prevalence of silicosis was high. Compared with HRCT chest, CXR and RFTs had limited value in screening this high-risk population.
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