Airdrie Civilians, Seniors, Children and Pets Deserve to Breathe Clean Air.
Who Will Help?
Airdrie Civilians, Seniors, Children and Pets Deserve to Breathe Clean Air.
Who Will Help?
The Concrete Company is consistently generating large amounts of airborne dust, with no apparent mitigation efforts to contain or reduce the emissions. This negligence is creating hazardous conditions for senior citizens, children, workers, and passersby. Additionally, it is causing a nuisance of noise, sound, smell and the requirement to constantly clean up “their” dust. However, the overarching issue is of course, the health concern.
The Health Concern – Group 1 Carcinogen
The dust being released appears to include respirable crystalline silica—a fine particulate commonly released during concrete production and handling.
Crystalline silica is a designated known human carcinogen, meaning it is a definite cause of cancer in humans. Once you breathe it in it can permanently scar and damage the lung tissue. Again, Silica dust is classified as a known Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
There is no evidence to support a safe level of Silica dust exposure.
If inhaled, it can create a health hazard all the way from simple and instant irritation to life-changing and often life-threatening lung diseases. According to the Occupational Health and Safety legislation and code RSS (OHSA) and other health authorities, including the Canadian Cancer Society, breathing in very small ("respirable") crystalline silica particles (which are finer than a tiny grain of sand found on a beach) can lead to severe and irreversible health problems and multiple diseases, including silicosis (an incurable lung disease that leads to disability and death), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer.
There is no known cure for silicosis: once detected, it is too late. A lung damaged by silicosis will never regain full health. It settles deep in the lung and its impact is so severe that it has the same classification given to other respiratory hazards such as asbestos.
One needs only to come and stand anywhere near the neighbors to the Concrete Company and you will be covered in a thin coat of dust in no time.