The re-emergence of silicosis in Spain

The Institute of Safety and Health at Work and the Ministry of Health held a technical conference last week in which the study titled: "The re-emergence of silicosis in Spain" was presented, a work that confirms a resurgence of silicosis, an incurable respiratory disease of occupational origin caused by the inhalation of crystalline silica.

Although historically it has been associated with mining, cases have increased in recent decades, affecting new industrial sectors, thus the manufacturing and handling of quartz agglomerates and the processing of natural stone (granite and slate, mainly) are the activities that concentrate the highest number of parts due to silicosis (47.8%), followed by construction, the extraction of other non-metallic or energy minerals and metallurgy.

According to INSS data, in 2024 alone, 520 reports of silicosis were registered. In total, in the period between 2007 (the year in which the current disease notification and registration system, CEPROSS, was introduced) and 2024, the number of reports rose to 5,900. 

The main findings of the study indicate that 4,418 cases of occupational disease caused by exposure to crystalline silica were recorded between 1990 and 2019 (96.1% men and 3.9% women), that the manufacturing sector of other non-metallic mineral products accounts for 50% of the cases and that Galicia is the autonomous community with the highest number of cases (32.9%), followed by Castilla y León (14%) and Andalusia (10.3%).

Likewise, an increase in cases is observed in younger workers and a decrease in the median age of patients treated for silicosis and the working population exposed to crystalline silica can develop other diseases, such as respiratory, cardiac, autoimmune pathologies and lung cancer.