Silicosis and other health risks

Advice from Professor Nicola Spurrier, Chief Public Health Officer, to Mayor Moira Were AM in December 2024, which was noted at the City of Onkaparinga’s January 2025 Council meeting, stated:

Based on evidence from available Australian and international monitoring carried out in communities that have an industrial source, such as a quarry, Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) has not been found to be a health concern in ambient air or in community settings. To develop silicosis, exposure to RCS generally needs to be long term and at high levels, and such high levels are usually not seen in community or ambient air settings.

Prolonged exposure to high concentrations of dust may pose health risks to some individuals, however, the air quality monitoring data indicates that dust from the quarry is nearly always below the national guideline concentrations recognised as impacting human health.