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Hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" has increased significantly in the past 10 years because new horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracking technologies have improved access to natural gas and oil deposits. In fracking, large volumes of water and sand are pumped into a well at high pressure to fracture shale and formations, allowing oil and gas to flow into the well.
Large quantities of silica sand are used during hydraulic fracturing. Sand is delivered via truck, loaded into sand movers, transferred via conveyer belt, and blended with hydraulic fracturing fluids prior to high-pressure injection into the drilling hole. Transporting, moving, and refilling silica sand into and through sand movers, along transfer belts, and into blender hoppers can release dusts containing silica into the air (Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], 2012 ). Workers can be exposed if they breathe the dust into their lungs.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and OSHA investigate worker safety and health hazards in oil and gas extraction, including chemical exposures during hydraulic fracturing operations. NIOSH recently found that workers may be exposed to dust containing high levels of respirable crystalline silica during hydraulic fracturing. Respirable crystalline silica is the component of crystalline silica small enough to enter the pulmonary alveolar region...
