- A new state study reveals a surge in cases of potentially fatal silicosis among California residents, with 631 cases reported as of this week.
- The disease is linked to exposure to silica dust from quartz countertops, with victims like Enrique Gonzalez, a stone worker, facing severe health consequences and financial struggles.
- California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is considering a ban on quartz countertops to prevent further cases of silicosis, following low compliance rates with current safety standards.
A skyrocketing number of California residents have developed an incurable lung disease linked to kitchen quartz countertops — with many needing lung transplants, according to a terrifying new state study
One of those victims is Enrique Gonzalez, a San Fernando Valley stone worker who has been unable to work for the past two years after developing silicosis from years of working in granite and stone manufacturing
Gonzalez’s family says the disease has made it impossible for him to continue working as his condition has progressed, leaving the family struggling to cover medical expenses and everyday costs
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The number of Californians stricken with potentially fatal silicosis — a disease caused when silica particles scar lungs and severely hamper breathing — has surged in recent years, jumping from 31 cases in 2019 to a staggering 631 as of this week, the study found
“Hundreds of workers have been sickened making quartz countertops, a product we do not need, especially when a safer alternative is available,” wrote David Michaels, co-author of the report and professor at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health
Nearly all of the victims have been men, with about half of them in Los Angeles County, the report said. Their median age is 52
Gonzalez’s family said he spent years working in the San Fernando Valley, in granite and stone manufacturing before his illness forced him to stop working according to a GoFundMe
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Thirty-one people have died from the debilitating illness in roughly the past eight years, while 65 have required lung transplants, said the researchers, who analyzed figures between 2019 and this year
Workers who install quartz countertops often end up suffering from silicosis, which is caused by inhaling the crystalline silica dust from the engineered stone
The stone has significantly more silica than natural materials such as granite or marble
There have been 151 cases so far this year — including 40 in the roughly past month alone
California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration attributed the health crisis to rising demand for the stone
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The number of cases is likely much higher because many workers go undiagnosed or receive a late diagnosis, the report warned
The Golden State has tried to act by instituting emergency standards in 2023, but regulators say compliance has been very low — with 94% of recently inspected shops found in violation of the current rules
“If artificial stone remains commercially available in California, some non-compliant shops may go underground, concentrating risk in the least regulated settings,” an analysis by California OSHA said
California OSHA voted in May to move toward a complete halt on quartz countertops, following Australia’s ban of work on the quartz material, despite opposition from industry groups
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The authors behind the new report said they support that move
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