Risks that you can live with regulations that you can live without regulation of crystalline silica and hexavalent chromium in the cement industry

Lately, the regulation of airborne contaminants has become a major focus of both the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA) and Mine Safety Health Act (MSHA) in the USA. Given this focus, the mining industry in general, and the cement industry in particular, must be particularly sensitive to regulatory trends regarding airborne or dustborne pathogens or irritants. Recent developments reveal that several disturbing trends are building in the regulatory environment. Two of them are explored in this paper.