The Investigation of Exposure to Silicate Powders in Patients Diagnosed Silicosis

Silicosis, in the textile sector in 2005, was first reported and defined as an occupational disease in Turkey. The process of spraying the sea sand through the fabric with the help of a compressor is called “sandblasting” to bleach, abrading, and aging the jeans. Exposure to sand dust in the working environment, the absence of occupational health and safety measures at the workplace, causes silicosis disease to be observed in the employees who perform denim sandblasting. Within the scope of this thesis, a descriptive epidemiological study was carried out aiming to reach with 45 persons who worked in Istanbul for a certain period in sandblasting and were subsequently diagnosed with silicosis. The main data of this thesis are the socio-economic conditions, demographic characteristics, working conditions as well as information about the working conditions of the patients, and the duration of the disease are also included. All the individuals in the thesis study are male and average 39.40 ± 8.65 years old. All employees (100%, n = 45) have not been subjected to an employment examination. All the employees work 6 days a week, 42.9% work in two shifts, and 57.1% work in three shifts. The distribution of the daily working time of the employees is 8-9 hours of 84.4%, 10-11 hours of 13.3%, and over 12 hours of 2.2%. The proportion of employees without insurance is 93.3% (n = 42) and the rate of insured employees is 6.7% (n = 3) for a while. During the medical examination, 71.1% (n = 32) of the employees started after work, 17.8% (n = 8) after quitting the job and 11.1% (n = 5) before the military service. It has received. Also, 8.9% (n = 4) of the patients were diagnosed with tuberculosis. The rate of those who document that the disease is an occupational disease is 2.2%. (N = 1). In the thesis, especially silicosis and tuberculosis has been shared literature about lung cancer diseases, powdery substance in Turkey and is given to current regulations for crystalline silica. Besides, the results obtained from the survey conducted within the scope of the thesis were shared. The importance of occupational health and safety rules has been emphasized to prevent occupational diseases among those working in workplaces applying the “sandblasting” process