Lung hazard at 2nd Ave. Subway

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/lung_hazard_at_nd_ave_subway_Z6HSEFymuGpBknCPsje87I?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=Manhattan

By JENNIFER FERMINO Transit Reporter

Last Updated: 4:58 AM, March 19, 2012

Posted: 12:23 AM, March 19, 2012

Excessive levels of a deadly carcinogen — linked to an incurable lung disease — were found at the Second Avenue Subway construction site during a federal safety inspection, according to documents obtained by The Post.

An air sample taken underground at East 69th Street and Second Avenue found more than three times the permissible levels of silica, tiny but dangerous dust particles dredged up during drilling construction, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

That sample was taken during an OSHA inspection Nov. 9, the results of which were released last week to Upper East Side Assemblyman Micah Kellner.
DANGER: A worker climbs down from a hole dug by a tunnel boring machine at the Second Avenue Subway site, where feds have found dangerously high levels of silica.


AP
DANGER: A worker climbs down from a hole dug by a tunnel boring machine at the Second Avenue Subway site, where feds have found dangerously high levels of silica.

Overexposure to silica — which has been classified as a human lung carcinogen — can lead to silicosis, a lung disease with no cure that is common among construction workers.

FULL story at link.

[PoliticAverse]

1. So they found too much sand ? n/t

[tk2kewl]

2. more like microscopically fine glass shards

[PoliticAverse]

3. If you spend any significant time in an area where any type of dust is being generated...

you should really be wearing an approrpriate filter mask.