Quartz silica is a colourless or white, variable, black, purple, green crystals. It is odourless and will not burn. Quartz silica is an occupational CANCER HAZARD - can cause cancer.

Silica refers to naturally occurring minerals composed principally of silicon dioxide (SiO₂). Silicon dioxide exists in both crystalline and amorphous forms. Quartz, cristobalite and tridymite are the three most common crystalline forms. These forms are interrelated and can change their form under different conditions of temperature and pressure. There are two different forms of quartz that are designated by the prefixes alpha and beta. The most common form is alpha-quartz which is a major component of igneous rocks, such as granite and pegmatite, but is also found in sandstone and sedimentary rock such as slate and shale. Beta-quartz is less common. Many synthetic forms of quartz also exist.

It is found in activities like mining, quarrying, tunnelling, and in foundries. It is used in the fabrication of stone and clay products; the manufacture of glass, enamels, ceramic products and glazes; as an abrasive and grinding media (sandblasting, polishing, grinding and scouring), cleansers, construction materials; fillers and extenders in paints and coatings, plastics, and rubbers; as a wood filler; in the production of chemicals; metallurgy and milling; optical applications, mainly as prisms; metallurgy grade silicon and silicon alloys; vitreous silica; and well fracturing. Pure and synthetic quartz is used for production of electronic components; frequency control in electrical oscillators and filters and electromechanical transducers; fibre optics; and used in consumer products such as electronic watches.

Quartz silica is also known as crystalline quartz silica, crystallized silicon dioxide, free crystalline silica, alpha-quartz, silica, silica flour, silicon dioxide, crystalline silica (non-specific name), and silica (non-specific name).

The term "non-specific name" means that the name is a generic name. There are several kinds of crystalline and non-crystalline forms of silica. Silicon dioxide refers to any chemical with the chemical formula SiO₂. It too can have many forms.

Its CAS Registry Number is 14808-60-7. This number is assigned by the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) in the United States and is used as a unique identifier number worldwide.