Bampot

On Tuesday, the level of PM2.5 particles—the smallest and most harmful, which can enter the bloodstream—topped 278 micrograms per cubic metre, according to monitoring firm IQAir.

That is 18 times the daily maximum recommended by the World Health Organization.

On the worst days, levels can shoot up as high as 30 times the daily maximum.

Piecemeal government efforts to mitigate the smog, such as a public campaign encouraging drivers to turn off their engines at traffic lights, have failed to make an impact.

A study in The Lancet medical journal attributed 1.67 million premature deaths to air pollution in the world's most populous country in 2019.

The widows of two stonemasons who died from a lung condition contracted during their work have warned of the dangers of "new asbestos".

Paul Gray and Stuart Johnson, who worked for the same stone production companies in Bradford and Leeds, were diagnosed with silicosis caused by silica dust.

The Health and Safety Executive has described silica dust found in stone as the "single biggest risk to construction workers" after the notoriously toxic asbestos.

The families of Mr Gray and Mr Johnson have called on employers to do more to protect workers, as both men had told their solicitors that they had not been warned about the dangers they faced or given protective equipment.

Those most at risk of developing silicosis have inhaled large amounts of silica dust over a period of years.

The death of a stonemason diagnosed with silicosis after cutting kitchen worktops has seen a coroner demand “urgent action” from the Government and the workplace safety watchdog in order to protect workers.

Wessam al Jundi, 28, died in May 2024, five days after being admitted to hospital for a lung transplant following his diagnosis with a severe form of the deadly lung disease, according to a Prevention of Future Death (PFD) report 

The Senior Coroner for west London, Lydia Brown, has written to the Department of Health, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) demanding a “timetable for action” to tackle the dangers of cutting engineered stone.

Ms Brown wrote: “Wessam had been working with artificial stone products which contain a very high percentage of crystalline silica content.

“During the course of the investigation my inquiries revealed matters giving rise to concern.

“In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken.

This evidence of child involvement was found on Greek import and Egyptian figurines. Interestingly, children were found never to make figurines by themselves; those of older individuals always accompanied their fingerprints. Children were likely tasked with pressing the clay sheets into the molds, a task more suited to a child's smaller hands.

Thereafter, the older supervising adult would remove the clay and fix the two halves; if not done correctly, this could ruin the figurine.

There has been considerable debate as to the main drivers of disease severity and prevalence amongst workers fabricating ES benchtops.

Early studies considered fabrication practices (e.g., wet versus dry cutting) , dust exposure levels and the high level of crystalline silica in many of the slabs (unfinished products) on the market.

However, more recent studies have shown that the situation is more nuanced than this with evidence that fabrication of ES finished products leads to the emission of vapours (e.g., volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and airborne particulate matter other than silica that pose a threat to respiratory health.

In addition, the over-representation of immigrant workers amongst silicosis cases suggests that there are non-material-related factors contributing to disease risk.

Silicosis due to artificial stone (AS) has emerged over the last decade as an increasing global issue.

We report the first eight UK cases. All were men; median age was 34 years (range 27-56) and median stone dust exposure was 12.5 years (range 4-40) but in 4 cases was 4-8 years. One is deceased; two were referred for lung transplant assessment.

All cases were dry cutting and polishing AS worktops with inadequate safety measures.

Clinical features of silicosis can closely mimic sarcoidosis.

UK cases are likely to increase, with urgent action needed to identify cases and enforce regulations.

Conclusion: The proportion of workers with detectable ANAs or ENAs was considerably higher than the 5%-9% expected in the general population. Some of the antibodies detected (eg, Scl-70, CENPB) have high sensitivity and specificity for systemic sclerosis. Long-term follow-up will be needed to estimate incidence. Rheumatologists should explore occupational history in new cases of autoimmune disease. Screening for autoimmune disease is indicated in workers exposed to RCS as these individuals need specialised management and may be entitled to compensation.

Silica dust exposure is one of the earliest recognized causes of lung disease. Hippocrates first recognized silica's effect on respiratory function in 430 B.C.

In the 1550s, Georgius Agricola wrote about men dying of pulmonary disease after working in the mining industry in Central Europe.

In 1770, Italian physician Bernardino Ramazzini identified silicotic nodules in the lungs of stone cutters. In the mid to late 1800s, mechanization in the mining industry resulted in rapidly increasing levels of silica exposure and cases of silicosis.

Silicosis was first recognized as a chronic disease that occurred primarily in miners and stone workers after at least 10 years of exposure to respirable crystalline silica dust.

Several diseases are associated with silicosis, which also can complicate the diagnosis. Studies have shown that silica dust exposure is associated with emphysema in smokers and nonsmokers alike. Thus, silicosis should not be ruled out in patients with obstructive pulmonary symptoms.

Silica exposure also is associated with an increased risk for TB.Silica and silicosis are risk factors for developing mycobacterial lung infections

Silicosis is associated with an increased risk of developing autoimmune diseases and lung cancer. Specific autoantibodies have not been identified, but studies have demonstrated an association between silica exposure and systemic sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-related vasculitis, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Silica dust is believed to promote or accelerate disease development, break immune tolerance, initiate autoimmunity, or magnify autoimmune vulnerability.

Respirable crystalline silica was recognized as early as 1997 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a human carcinogen, and its carcinogenicity was reconfirmed in a 2009 report

Yet another strain of the virus that causes mpox might be readily spreading from person to person, according to an analysis of the pathogen’s genome. This development could further complicate efforts to halt the spread of the disease in Central Africa, which has seen a surge in infections over the past year. And it has left researchers scratching their heads over what is currently driving this surge.

Air pollution in Pakistan's second biggest city Lahore soared on Saturday, with an official calling it a record high for the smog-choked mega city.

For days, the city of 14 million people has been enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling.

The air quality index, which measures a range of pollutants, spiked at 1,067—well above the level of 300 considered 'dangerous'—according to data from IQAir.

"We have never reached a level of 1,000," Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore told AFP.

The fastest animal on land is the cheetah, capable of reaching top speeds of 104 kilometres per hour. In the water, the fastest animals are yellowfin tuna and wahoo, which can reach speeds of 75 and 77 km per hour respectively. In the air, the title of the fastest level flight (excluding diving) goes to the white-throated needletail swift, at more than 112 km per hour.

What do all of these speedy creatures have in common? None of them are particularly big, nor particularly small for the group of animals they represent. In fact, they are all intermediately sized.

The reason for this is a bit of a mystery. As animals increase in mass, several biological features change as well. For example, in general leg length steadily increases. But clearly long legs are not the answer, since the largest land animals, like elephants, are not the fastest.

Based on the team's analysis, the lime clasts in their samples are not consistent with this method. Rather, Roman concrete was probably made by mixing the quicklime directly with the pozzolana and water at extremely high temperatures, by itself or in addition to slaked lime, a process the team calls "hot mixing" that results in the lime clasts.

"The benefits of hot mixing are twofold," Masic said.

"First, when the overall concrete is heated to high temperatures, it allows chemistries that are not possible if you only used slaked lime, producing high-temperature-associated compounds that would not otherwise form. Second, this increased temperature significantly reduces curing and setting times since all the reactions are accelerated, allowing for much faster construction."

And it has another benefit: The lime clasts give the concrete remarkable self-healing abilities.

When cracks form in the concrete, they preferentially travel to the lime clasts, which have a higher surface area than other particles in the matrix. When water gets into the crack, it reacts with the lime to form a solution rich in calcium that dries and hardens as calcium carbonate, gluing the crack back together and preventing it from spreading further.