Premium
Truncating a disease. The reduction of silica hazards to silicosis at the 1930 international labor office conference on silicosis in Johannesburg
Author(s) -
Rosental PA
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22517
Subject(s) - silicosis , medicine , occupational disease , environmental health , convention , law , pathology , political science
The current nosology and etiology of silicosis were officially adopted by the 1930 International Labor Office (ILO) Conference on silicosis in Johannesburg. Convened by the International Labor Office and by the Transvaal Chamber of Mines, it paved the way to the adoption of a 1934 ILO convention which recognized silicosis as an occupational disease. Even though it constituted a social and sanitary turning point, the Johannesburg conference, strongly influenced by South African physicians working for the gold mining industry, reduced silica hazards to silicosis, an equation which is questioned nowadays. While the definition of silicosis adopted in 1930 was a major step in the recognition of occupational pneumoconioses, it also led to the under‐identification of some pathogenic effects of silica. Going back to history opens new avenues for contemporary medical research. Am. J. Ind. Med. 58:S6–S14, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.