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Cake day: July 16th, 2023

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  • And again, what you consider to be merely an economic issue is exactly where you seem to be missing the point.

    Quarrying is environmentally destructive. It has contamination and pollution issues. It carries health issues. As well as the costly logistics of transporting bulk around the planet. Governments these days no longer wish any company, large or small, to go around tearing rock, in any form - pre ground or otherwise -out of the ground. So your next problem would be sourcing the base materials for your manufactured product legally.

    Economically, even if you did manage to quarry,crush,sieve,grade and mix your sand for lets say £1000 a ton. What architect on the planet would specify the use of such an environmentally unfriendly and costly material and what construction company in the world would pay such a price?

    Architects are already specifying more sustainable materials and construction techniques are changeing, but at present, people are still destroying the planet and killing each other for sand ! That’s the current economic situation.


  • Nobody is saying that without a time limit and at great expence sand can not be manufactured, but it is not even that simple.

    Firstly : You would have to quarry your rock of preference before crushing, sieving, grading, and more than likely, also having to transport your specific rock grains to be mixed with other types of crushed and graded chips, depending on your sands ultimate purpose.

    Secondly : It is not cheap to extract stone from the earth plus quarrying leaves very big holes in the ground! Permission from authorities to open new quarries or pits is not easily obtained in most countries.

    Thirdly: Crushing is hazardous, polluting, environmentally destructive and very expensive .

    The sand problem has been bubbling away on the back burner for years, hence the many and various ongoing efforts from all around the globe to recycle or create new and innovative construction materials.


  • Why the world is running out of sand

    Our planet is covered in it. Huge deserts from the Sahara to Arizona have billowing dunes of the stuff. Beaches on coastlines around the world are lined with sand. We can even buy bags of it at our local hardware shop for a fistful of small change.

    But believe it or not, the world is facing a shortage of sand. How can we possibly be running low on a substance found in virtually every country on earth and that seems essentially limitless?

    The problem lies in the type of sand we are using. Desert sand is largely useless to us. The overwhelming bulk of the sand we harvest goes to make concrete, and for that purpose, desert sand grains are the wrong shape. Eroded by wind rather than water, they are too smooth and rounded to lock together to form stable concrete.

    The sand we need is the more angular stuff found in the beds, banks, and floodplains of rivers, as well as in lakes and on the seashore. The demand for that material is so intense that around the world, riverbeds and beaches are being stripped bare, and farmlands and forests torn up to get at the precious grains. And in a growing number of countries, criminal gangs have moved in to the trade, spawning an often lethal black market in sand.

    https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191108-why-the-world-is-running-out-of-sand


  • You could be right on the governments dislike of a popular and profitable imported product!.. But what about RPE ?

    RPE will not eliminate disease in cases of extended long term exposure.

    RPE has only to be used as ‘The very last resort’…and is only supposed to be used as…‘The very last resort’…and only as…‘The very last resort’ for short periods of time, as…‘The very last resort’

    Why do so many people equate the usage of respiratory protection with ‘A Safe Working Environment ?’

    In areas where long term usage of such protection is required, an operatives working environment is exactly the opposite of ‘SAFE’ !

    There is No Known Safe Working Exposure Limit when working in respirable crystalline silica dust…NONE !



  • Do I sound upset ? Crikey! ha ha

    Sorry duder ,I am immune to upset and trivialities such as social media comments do not even register as irratation on my ragged toenail scale.

    I do attempt to upload the original paper where possible, but when (As is par for the course these days) the publication is behind a paywall and as in this case, without even an abstract ,then the news article has to be the option for the post.

    Take care and have an article annoyance free day .





  • I would say that slavery could perhaps be considered an occupational hazard!

    Slavery or the imprisoning /detaining personel against their will to enforce labour was once common in farming ,construction and many other industries in this country and probably still goes on.

    Gangs would (and probably still do) convince unwitting refugees to come over here to work for them on the promise of great wages and full board. Once here these people would be kept in shacks,caravans and the likes, but usually in overcrowded slum conditions, threatened with violence or beaten daily and forced to work without pay or for food (if they were lucky)

    A few years back the construction industry raised awareness of this problem and asked the workforce to be vigilant,to keep their eyes open and report any signs or suspicions of enforced labour. Thanks to this awareness campaign many of these gangs were caught and imprisoned ,thousands of illegally detained people were released… The car wash app was set up for a similar purpose

    Raising awareness on the subject of occupational hazards is not solely about RPE ,employees face many risks and many hazards…

    As for car washing ,PPE required would be waterproof footwear and clothing ,protective gloves , eye protection, a respirator for use when cleaning the inside of dirty vehicles , a respirator would also be required when the likes of chemical sprays, special waxes, sealers, body finishes or any other solvents were in use… Take care


  • Silica is in many things and widely used everywhere, apart from the obvious dusty trades,sandblasters ,stonemasons,bricklayers,plasters,roofers,painters and decorators, demolition workers frackers ,miners, quarrymen and highway workers.

    Plumbers,electricians,refractory workers ,military personnel,tech workers ,lorry and machine drivers ,jewelers ,dental technicians ,farmers,foundry workers,glass workers,horse trainers,potters,metal grinders ,greenhouse gardeners and even teachers of old have been known to succumb to the masons cough ( Which was once known as Potters Rot )and/or one or more of the myriad of silica associated diseases .

    ( My apologies if I missed anyone out )

    Unfortunately there is no known or quantifiable safe occupational limit for silica exposure (Despite what the corporately owned politicians and regulators quote as fact ) and respirators are only supposed to be used as the very last resort ,none are 100% efficient ,they all leak ,hence the coding .