Cement poisoning is a condition that could indicate a variety of conditions. These conditions depend on whether the patient in question is working in the presence of cement dust, or working directly with setting cement. The difference is crucial because people working near cement dust tend to have respiratory problems from inhaling the dust. Since cement mostly consists of a product called lime, there isn’t much danger. However, depending on the grade of cement, there could be some other chemicals, however the damage that these do are limited to the lungs. One particularly nasty problem that could develop over a period of time with exposure to pollutants like cement is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD. This is a disease which usually affects smokers and people who are exposed to pollutants, and is characterized by damaged lungs, mucus, coughing, emphysema, and a case of reduced oxygen reaching the body. There is no cure for this problem as it is caused by lung damage over the course of time. All that can be done is to control the symptoms and hope for the lung damage to heal over time.
The other type of cement poisoning that could occur is because of skin exposure to cement. This could cause allergic dermatitis to occur. This is basically a skin reaction to continuous exposure to an irritant like cement. This could cause an eczema, which is an irritated patch of skin that is discolored, itchy, and flaking dead skin. This patch of skin could also be inflamed. Dealing with a problem like this first involves staying completely away from the irritant and then protecting and healing the skin.
The first step this is to start wearing thick gloves when working with cement and tying a mask around your nose when you deal with cement powder or dust. This is because even inhaling cement can cause an allergic reaction in the skin for some susceptible people. Before working with cement again, you must apply some aloe vera on the parts of your body that come in close contact with cement. This effectively forms a bandage over the skin, thus preventing contact with the allergen. To reduce some of the inflammation that is associated with eczema, place some ice over the inflamed skin. Start consuming a lot of ginger and feverfew, as parts of herbal tea. These will help reduce inflammation as well. Finally, you should use a regular treatment like hydrocortisone cream every day until the eczema subsides.