[Engel]

I've tried megazorb, aubiose, fitch, kaytee, carefresh, aspen, various sands and even Coco coir in my hamster set ups. Megazorb is great at holding burrows but can be dusty. I like to mist water over it to keep dust down. Not so it's damp though. Have you tried aubiose (hemp)? Can be lovely in a natural themed enclosure, only downside is that it's not great at holding burrows so will need something else like hay (I recommend a soft meadow or orchard hay or soft cut timothy). You can mix megazorb with the aubiose and that's fine, not too dusty.

Just a note that megazorb is also ok to use for skinnies the only problem is its a nightmare to get off fleece cozies. So should you rescue any, it can be used for them, it's one of my favourites for piggies.

I didn't find kaytee too bad although it's been a few years since I've used it. Lovely and soft but you need a lot of it and it's expensive. I do have a habit of dumping bedding into a storage box and fluffing it outside to disperse most of the dust anyway so that may be why.

All sand, and rocks in general, contain silica so it's not a bad thing. What people worry about is the size of the granules. The finer the sand, the more dust, which means more silica is inhaled. There's links with cancer and people who are exposed to large amounts over a long period of time can develop lung issues. As hamsters have a fast metabolism, this can causes problems much quicker. There have been reports of hamsters and gerbils getting really poorly really quickly as well as long term chinchilla owners falling victim to the effects. I like the pets at home desert sand (reptile) and I'm yet to have an issue with dust, so maybe try that and see what you think?