s

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Occupational exposure to respirable dust containing quartz continues to be a serious hazard in the construction indus-try, as it experiences high quartz exposure levels during specific activities [1-6]. This is illustrated by previous stud-ies which showed exposure levels well above the occupa-tional exposure limits (OEL) for quartz among several jobs and tasks in the construction industry [1,3,5-7]. These high exposure levels could be explained by the fact that con-struction workers regularly work with building materials such as concrete and lime-sandstone, of which quartz is a major constituent. As quartz exposure seems inevitable in construction work, construction workers could face potential health risks, mainly lung diseases such as silicosis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(COPD) [4,8-10], due to chronic occupational quartz exposure at an elevate