Silicosis is the most prevalent pneumoconiosis in Brazil, due to the ubiquity of silica exposure. We found all silica exposure situations where there is a risk of silicosis, as well as peculiar exposure situations.

The estimated number of workers potentially exposed to silica-containing dust is over 6 million (around 4 million in construction, 500,000 in mining and mining and over 2 million in mineral processing, metallurgy, chemical, rubber industries). , ceramics and glass).

We have data on the occurrence of silicosis of different types, such as number of cases diagnosed in specialized services and prevalence of silicosis in industrial groups, such as Open Quarries (3.0), Ceramics (3.9), Foundries (4). , 5), Shipbuilding (23,6) and Well digging (17,4). These prevalence rates refer to active workers and the contrast between them reflects the exposure conditions within each group analyzed. In the state of Minas Gerais alone, there are an estimated 7416 cases of gold mining (Min Saúde, 1997). Of these about 4,500 cases are known to be from the Nova Lima region. Case numbers from mining and stoning are not well known.

Since silicosis is a slowly developing disease, except acute and subacute silicosis, and can progress independently of continued exposure, most cases will only be diagnosed years after the worker is away from exposure.

In 1978 it was estimated that the stockpile of silicosis cases in the country would be close to 30,000 cases, through an active search for silicosis cases in tuberculosis sanatoriums (Mendes, R 1978).

Numerous severe cases of silicosis have been described in well digging (Holanda et al, 1995) and sandblasting in the naval industry (Rio de Janeiro State Technical Commission, 1994). A recent survey of cases of silicosis followed at the FUNDACENTRO outpatient clinic shows that cases from mining tend to be more severe than cases from urban industries such as foundries and ceramics. Severe cases from small and ghost companies often occur due to the complete absence of dust exposure control measures. An example of this is the case in lapidary cases, recently evaluated by the UFMG Occupational Diseases Outpatient Clinic and the FUNDACENTRO Occupational Pulmonology Outpatient Clinic, as well as in sandblowers diagnosed in Curitiba.

Silicosis is a disabling disease that can be associated with complications such as tuberculosis, chronic airflow limitation, and lung cancer. There is no standardized treatment and usually evolves over the years. In developed countries its occurrence is in rapid decline, by the introduction of measures to control dust exposure, silica replacement in some operations and awareness of companies and workers. In Brazil there are situations in which there have been clear improvements in working conditions in some sectors in the last decades, with other activities performed in precarious or little known conditions. We continue to diagnose cases of silicosis frequently in clinical practice. It is a perfectly preventable disease and technology is already available to prevent it. WHO and ILO launched a joint silicosis eradication program in 1995.

From November 6 to 10, 2000, FUNDACENTRO, the Evangelical Faculty of Medicine of Paraná and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, with support from the ILO and WHO, and numerous governmental and non-governmental institutions held the International Seminar on Exposure to Silica. – Prevention and Control. The Seminar was an initiative that met the objectives proposed by the international program for the global elimination of silicosis, as it debated issues pertaining to the disease situation in Brazil, focusing on prevention and control measures, seeking to identify and disseminate the forms and means that these actions and measures can be effectively applied and motivate all concerned with efforts to make the disease increasingly rare in our society.

In this Seminar a commitment was made to elaborate a National Program for the Elimination of Silicosis that integrates the institutional actions, mainly in the Health, Labor and Social Security areas, ensuring that in its strategic projects it contemplates the issue of SILICOSE elimination and that it considers the possibility the contribution of the World Health Organization, the International Labor Organization, technical cooperation agreements with other countries and the participation of other social actors involved in the issue.