[United States Cali] ‘No One Told Us It Was Dangerous’: Rise of Quartz Countertops Linked to Incurable Lung Disease in Bay Area Workers

Editor's Note

This editor’s note highlights the key facts and market implications behind “‘No One Told Us It Was Dangerous’: Rise of Quart”, with emphasis on sourcing, product fit, fabrication, logistics, or buyer impact.

Leading quartz slab manufacturers acknowledge that processing their product generates dangerous dust but maintain the risks are preventable. The International Surface Fabricators Association, which represents countertop suppliers, has opposed calls to ban quartz countertops, instead proposing certification and licensing for fabrication shops. The material for countertops—typically crushed mineral quartz processed with plastic resins, dyes, and glass to form slabs—was first introduced in 1987 by the Israeli company Caesarstone, which continues to manufacture it and is named as a defendant in hundreds of lawsuits, including Peña's. In 2010, Caesarstone began placing warning labels on its slabs. In 2023, it launched low-silica countertop materials but continues to market high-silica versions. The company declined to comment on the allegations in the lawsuits. The owner of Cosentino—a Spanish quartz slab giant sued by both Peña and numerous workers—was sentenced in 2023 to six months in prison for gross negligence. As reported by Reuters, a judge in Spain ruled the company knew of the health risks of its flagship product, Silestone—currently sold at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Costco, and numerous Bay Area stores—but failed to apply proper warning labels. A 2024 jury verdict in Los Angeles County Superior Court awarded $52.4 million to Gustavo Reyes-González, a client of law firm Brayton Purcell, in a lawsuit against Caesarstone and two other engineered stone slab manufacturers. The case is currently under appeal. In Peña's case and others, the U.S. subsidiaries of Caesarstone and Cosentino responded by suing the small shops that employed the workers, arguing those businesses are liable for any silicosis-related responsibility.

The Burlingame-based quartz slab supplier All Natural Stone argued in a court filing in Peña's case that it "had no reason to know or believe its product could be dangerous" and contended that Peña "and/or others" acted negligently.

Until two years ago, José Peña—a father of five and Oakland resident—could easily carry a 60-pound countertop slab. Now, a simple walk around the block with his children leaves him gasping for air and desperately searching for his oxygen tank. Silicosis—an aggressive, incurable disease doctors say he contracted from cutting, shaping, and polishing quartz countertops for homes from San Jose to San Francisco—is worsening. The fibrous masses in his lungs keep growing.

“No one told us it was dangerous,” Peña said in Spanish. He began working with quartz slabs to fabricate countertops in 2005.

He will likely need a lung transplant; a procedure that, according to Cal/OSHA—California's workplace health regulator—kills 2 out of 5 patients within five years, regardless of the underlying cause.

“I am afraid,” said Peña, 54. “My children are very sad.”

Since he can no longer work—and his wife had to take a job restocking shelves at a clothing chain—he now sees himself as "a burden."

The California Department of Public Health, along with hundreds of physicians, states that processing quartz-based slabs into highly popular engineered stone countertops is causing a hidden epidemic of silicosis. Medical experts note this deadly disease can affect victims after as little as two years of working with the material. Quartz countertops have been banned in Australia, led to a criminal conviction in Spain, and a multi-million dollar court verdict in California. Various retailers, including IKEA, have stopped selling them. Meanwhile, federal and state governments allow their sale without restrictions—even in California—despite authorities themselves confirming an epidemic exists. More than 500 Californians who work with this material have contracted the disease—like Peña—at an average age of 46, according to the department's artificial stone silicosis dashboard launched last year. Over 50 needed lung transplants and 29 have died. Underdiagnosis means the numbers are likely higher, the department noted. So far this year, four dozen workers have been diagnosed.

Source: Read the original article | Published: March 17, 2026