Depureco News, Events & Blog

A Problem You Can’t See—Yet Breathe Every Day If you run a grinder across a concrete slab for even a single pass, the dust cloud you raise can carry respirable-crystalline silica (RCS) concentrations of 400 µg/m³—eight times higher than OSHA’s 8-hour permissible-exposure limit of 50 µg/m³. Unlike sawdust, these particles measure just 0.1–4 µm. They slip past an N-95 mask, lodge in the alveoli and never leave, driving silicosis, lung cancer, COPD and kidney disease. Concrete dust is only half the story. Portland-cement fines are strongly alkaline (≈