Silicosis

Dr Johanna Feary was recently featured on BBC Morning Live at Royal Brompton Hospital to talk about silicosis due to artificial stone, and advises those working with the material to get their lungs checked.

The feature also includes an interview with our patient Ryan, who spoke about how his silicosis diagnosis has affected his life. Nurse Tamanna Kabir was also featured performing spirometry with Ryan.

Watch the feature on BBC Morning Live online from 11mins and 22 secs.

Dr Patrick Howlett and Dr Johanna Feary both attended the ERS Congress 2025 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Patrick also did a poster presentation on his current research on "the prevalence and determinants of silicosis among current and ex-gemstone miners in Northern Tanzania" (PA1579).

See the full congress programme on the ERS website.

Dr Johanna Feary recently spoke to MPs and peers at the All Party Parliamentary Party Group (APPG) on Occupational Safety & Health on Monday 3 November 2025, about the increasing number of patients in the UK diagnosed with silicosis caused by artificial/engineered stone.

Industry experts at the Westminster meeting including clinicians, politicians, union leaders and legal teams called for a UK-wide ban on stones with high silica content, primarily artificial/engineered stone.

The meeting was hosted by Thompsons Solicitors and the Trade Union Congress.

Read press coverage of the meeting here:

• Deadly kitchen revamp lung disease on rise - as man sent for transplant at age 23 (inews)
• Westminster hears fresh calls to ban high-silica stone (kbbreview)

The Lungs at Work team attended, presented and chaired at the most recent British Thoracic Society (BTS) Winter Meeting between 26-28 November 2025 in Westminster, London.

Our team presented the following abstracts:

• S112 Description of 32 cases of artificial stone silicosis from a single UK centre (presented by Dr Jo Feary)
• S113 Silicosis prevalence and association with cumulative silica exposure among current and ex- underground small-scale miners in Northern Tanzania (presented by Dr Patrick Howlett)
• S114 Longitudinal change in respiratory function in firefighters; results from the Grenfell Firefighter Study (presented by BSc medical student)
• M37 The burden and determinants of tuberculosis among small-scale miners and community members in Northern Tanzania (presented by Dr Patrick Howlett)
• P73 Changing trends in occupational asthma cases identified at a single specialist centre over 30 years (presented by nurse Tamanna Kabir)

Dr Feary was co-chair for a session on "Occupational hazards of exposure to particulates",  and Dr Howlett a co-chair for a session titled "Breathing room: Confronting lung diseases from modern workplaces".

See the full event programme with full abstracts on the BTS website.