Is silicon carbide toxic?
Silicon carbide itself is non-toxic and harmless, but excessive inhalation of silicon carbide powder can cause pneumoconiosis. Secondly, direct contact with the body has not been found to cause major damage, and only a few people may experience skin allergies. Inhaling a small amount will not harm the body. If inhaled too much or frequently exposed to silicon carbide powder, it may cause pneumoconiosis. Therefore, workers who have been engaged in silicon carbide production for a long time need to be equipped with masks to reduce the inhalation of silicon carbide powder.
Silicon carbide (SiC) is made of quartz sand, petroleum coke (or coal coke), sawdust (salt is needed to produce green silicon carbide) and other raw materials through high-temperature smelting in a resistance furnace. Silicon carbide also exists in rare minerals in nature, moissanite. Silicon carbide is also called carbon silicon stone. Among contemporary non-oxide high-tech refractory raw materials such as C, N, and B, silicon carbide is the most widely used and economical one, which can be called corundum or refractory sand. At present, China’s industrially produced silicon carbide is divided into black silicon carbide and green silicon carbide. Both are hexagonal crystals with a specific gravity of 3.20 to 3.25 and a microhardness of 2840 to 3320 kg/mm2.
