The short answer: Unless you are inhaling it as a dust on a fairly continuous basis, then no.. it's perfectly safe. SiO2 is the single most common compound on the face of the earth. It's in various quantities in all of the foods that you eat, with the largest contributions from plants that have absorbed it from the ground. It is readily absorbed and excreted into the urine. It is the basic chemical compound of sand, glass, and most rock. However, don't be bothered by this because like all other chemical compounds, the formation that it takes in relation to fellow molecules determines a lot of its properties. For example, comparing the SiO2 in the food to you eat to the SiO2 in the window next to you, is like comparing the steam in your shower to the iceberg that sunk the titanic. Yeah, the steam and the iceberg are made of the same basic compound (H2O), but they have vastly different properties because of the relationship of the molecules to one another and whats been done to them.
According to wikipedia: "Pure silicon dioxide produces no fumes and is insoluble in vivo. It is indigestible, with zero nutritional value and zero toxicity. When silica is ingested orally, it passes unchanged through the gastrointestinal tract, exiting in the feces, leaving no trace behind." Inhalation of small quantities over time however can lead to silicosis and bronchitis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silica
Toxicity fears may be due to the the fact that asbestos is a silicate containing a combination of silicon and oxygen similar to that found in silicon dioxide (sand) but with long, thin fibrous crystals.
Update:
"...it is naturally 'low in toxicity'...a theory that silicon dioxide may cause Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The symptoms Fraser experienced from supplements that contained silicon dioxide were similar to those experienced by women when their breast implants leak, which contain a significant amount of silicon dioxide..."
http://www.ehow.com/about_5108396_use-silicon-dioxide-fat-burners.HTML
low in toxicity? low over and over again equals high. just like the drinking water, other preservatives, the air, everything. u add up 5 cents enough it will equal a million dollars. i wouldn't use it.
Yes, Silicon Dioxide ( SiO2) is VERY dangerous if inhaled.
Even small quantities are enough to cause silicosis, a dangerous and even fatal lung disease.
Silicosis can take even decades after the exposure to SiO2 to occur.
It comes in very handy, but I don't recommend eating it!
really harmful
Humans breathe in whatever happens to be in the air when they breathe in. If there is carbon dioxide then they will breathe it in as well as nitrogen and oxygen. However they only use the oxygen for respiration so they breathe out everything else with extra carbon dioxide.
carbon dioxide
carbon dioxide
carbon dioxide
harmful
no
Helpful in the stratosphere, harmful in the troposphere.
computer.. both helpful and not..
Marsupials are helpful to humans in that they keep grasses and plants at manageable levels. They are only harmful to humans when they get too close and scare the animals.
Ticks are often harmful to humans. For instance, the sheep tick could cause Lyme disease in humans.
Yes there they eat flys
Is leptospira helpful or harmful to humans
No. Silica, or silicon dioxide, is not a vitamin and should not be consumed by humans or animals.
Can be both harmful and helpful. They can be harmful to humans because, many types of amoebas can carry diseases, and some can feed on human tissue. They can get into our body by, contaminated food and contaminated water. Amoebas are also helpful because they are part of the food chain.
they are helpful for pest control in gardens, but are harmful for anything that tries to eat it from the spikes on its back. for humans, it is no more harmful than a hamster that doesn't like you
Beluga whales can not be harmful to humans. They are playful and very intellegent.