Fracking and Crystalline Siica

The Center for Disease Control has been testing the exposure to airborne Crystalline Silica during fracking procedures. Crystalline silica is something, which I have, not read about anywhere else until I found the Forbes site as well. Both articles say that primarily everything has been focused mainly on the environmental risks that are associated with fracking. Until more recently, the water was the big concern of most people and health agencies. Now we are seeing a concern with crystalline silica that workers must be protected from. These seem to be fair and balanced articles. They both say the importance of protecting works from the airborne dust that contains the high levels of crystalline silica. There don’t appear to be many differences in the article from Forbes and the Center for Disease control report. Both articles state that there were one hundred and sixteen air samples at eleven separate hydraulic fracturing site in five different states that were analyzed. It was found that seventy nine percent of the test sites were above the threshold limit value and the data exceeded the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s recommenced exposure limits. The Forbes article does not state that even with a mask or air purifying respirators that the workers would still inhale ten times the recommended exposure limits of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The Center for Disease Control also suggest many way to protect workers and the seven primary points that the dust is released from the hydraulic fracturing equipment. I think the Forbes article should have included some more information on how to protect workers. The Center for Diesease control is a great resource and seems to be in my experience a very reliable source of information that has been collected. I am surprised to learn that there was a crystalline silica dust that is released. Everyone is always talking about how fracking will hurt our water,