Editor's Note
This editor’s note highlights the key facts and market implications behind “Popular Kitchen Countertop Material Is Making Wo”, with emphasis on sourcing, product fit, fabrication, logistics, or buyer impact.
Engineered stone, or quartz, is a man-made material made with high concentrations of silica that is commonly used to make kitchen countertops in the U.S.
Doctors are seeing more and more workers in the countertop industry developing silicosis, an often deadly lung disease linked to inhaling toxic dust the material releases when cut with power tools. Even though California has safety rules in place to reduce the risk to workers, some say it’s time to ban the use of engineered stone altogether.
It’s a very common product. You can find it at Home Depot or through big box retail stores like Costco. It has become one of the most popular countertop materials in the US. It’s made in a factory with different components like silica, resins, and dyes that are baked together into slabs by machines. It’s very popular because it’s beautiful, stain resistant, and can be a lot cheaper than natural stones like marble or granite. Few consumers, however, know about the risks of this product.
Workers who are cutting, polishing, and grinding it are getting sick with silicosis, a disease caused by breathing the dust released by the material when it’s cut. The dust contains a lot of silica particles that get stuck in the lungs and cause severe health problems.
Nearly all of the workers who’ve gotten sick with this kind of silicosis linked to engineered stone are Latino men. One worker, who started in the industry about two decades ago, described how part of his job was to unload large slabs from trucks into the shop or install countertops in homes and businesses.
I’ve spent 20 years working in tile manufacturing, starting when I was 20 years old…
He said he started noticing it was really difficult for him to lift the slabs. When interviewed, he was sitting next to an oxygen machine with clear tubes attached to his nostrils and cannot leave his house without it. He is only 43 years old.
He also wore masks when working, but they were filter masks. He and his employers thought they were protected, but doctors now find that the silica dust released by artificial stone is so tiny it can penetrate filter masks. It still lodges in the lungs, causes scarring, and over time the lungs can’t expand and contract to breathe normally. He can no longer work, has run out of state disability benefits, and is on a waiting list for a double lung transplant.
The California Department of Public Health is now tracking this issue and has confirmed 450 cases of silicosis among stone workers linked to artificial stone since 2019.
The state now requires countertop fabrication shops that use stone with silica to cut it wet with machines that submerge the stone underwater when cutting and sawing to suppress dust. Workers also need to wear protective gear like powered air purifying respirators, which sometimes cover the full face. These rules have been in place since 2023, but most shops are small and don’t have the money, capacity, or willingness to implement them.
That’s why doctors are looking at what happened in Australia, which banned artificial stone with high silica last year. Dr. Gandhi and other doctors say it’s time for the state to start phasing out these high-silica products from fabrication shops to protect workers.
Substitution, which is where we really go for safer alternatives to all artificial stone, is really where I think we should be concentrating our efforts, which is essentially what they did in Australia.
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CalOSHA) has discussed whether the state should ban the use of engineered stone. Recently, doctors from the Western Occupational and Environmental Medical Association sent a letter urging the state to ban all fabrication and installation of engineered stone containing more than 1% silica.
Source: Read the original article | Published: December 15, 2025