Disadvantages Of Marble Mining

Waste materials from marble processing are also needed because of their high silica and lime content. It is used as ingredients in the manufacture of detergents, toothpaste, and soap. The crushed stones are also washed out with abrasives and sold as artificial sand (Año, 2002). The white marble stone is ground to powder and used in industrial, agricultural and pharmaceutical applications because of the calcium carbonate found in them. Calcium carbonate is very effective in neutralizing acids which is why it is used to make Tums, a medicine for stomach indigestion. It is used as a dietary supplement in animal feed. Chickens that lay eggs and cattle that produce milk need to consume a calcium-rich diet (Geology.com). It is also used as a soil

There is much risks in marble mining which is one of the most difficult and lonely occupation. Those involved in the extraction process are exposed to possible heatstroke or sunstroke. They usually complain of exhaustion, headache, and muscle pain. A male laborer in Romblon thinks that his work is hazardous. There is a danger of landslides, cave-ins, or being rolled over by the big boulders where only back hoes are used to lift big blocks of marble. He claimed that there were already accidents that killed some workers (Año, 2002). One of the major source of air pollution is the marble dust from quarry sites which can affect humans as well as animals. Processing of marble resulted in the formation of marble dust which contained particles of calcium carbonate and silica. Workers exposed to this stand an increased risk of suffering from asthma symptoms, skin allergy, ear infection, cough with pneumonia, acute respiratory tract infection, chronic bronchitis, nasal inflammation and impairment of lung function (Camici et al., 1978 Angotzi et al., 2005; Leikin et al., 2009). Prolonged exposure to the dust has long been known to cause one of the oldest known industrial diseases, silicosis (Pilkington et al., 1996; Tjoe-Nij et al., 2003). Silicosis is a lung disease marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs caused by inhalation of crystalline

Government officials of Romblon had discussed and call for environmental awareness and policies to address the effects of the waste products. It is dangerous for the people of Romblon because it affects their source of food and water. High sedimentation and silt deposition from quarries posed threats to the coral reef systems and marine species surrounding Romblon, which is one of the provinces in the Philippines that contains the greatest concentration of marine species (Gay-ya et al, 2007). Most of the small scale operators do not practice waste management so a lot of silt and sedimentation are washed into the surrounding waters (Dugan, 2013). Large amounts of solid wastes can