silicosis

This image, from a video produced by government safety researchers, shows a countertop worker using a machine with a spray of water that's intended to control dust.

Young men making quartz countertops are facing lung damage. One state is taking action

12:34pm July 24, 2023

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Countertops made of the engineered stone "quartz" are incredibly popular, but public health experts say cutting this material unsafely can expose workers to deadly dust.

Water applied to cutting equipment, like this computer-operated saw, is one method to control silica dust exposure when cutting quartz slabs.

A New Safety Program Takes On Silica Dust Amid A Possible Crisis

5:00am December 21, 2019

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

It will now be easier for the government to inspect shops where workers might get exposed to lung-damaging silica dust. But it's unclear how much it will affect countertop workers.

The Cambria factory in Minnesota manufactures slabs of engineered quartz for kitchen and bathroom countertops. If businesses don't follow worker protection rules, cutting these slabs to fit customers' kitchens can release lung-damaging silica dust.

'There's No Good Dust': What Happens After Quartz Countertops Leave The Factory

3:13pm December 02, 2019

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Slabs of engineered quartz are cut to order in thousands of shops around the country that may not adequately protect workers from dangerous levels of the lung-damaging contaminant.

Samples of Silestone, a countertop material made of quartz. Cutting the material releases dangerous silica dust that can damage people's lungs if the exposure to the dust is not properly controlled.

'It's Going To Get Worse': How U.S. Countertop Workers Started Getting Sick

10:57am November 22, 2019

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

The story of the first worker in the U.S. to suffer lung damage after cutting a new kind of countertop material shows the way a workplace hazard emerged in this country.

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A worker cuts black granite to make a countertop. Though granite, marble and "engineered stone" all can produce harmful silica dust when cut, ground or polished, the artificial stone typically contains much more silica, says a CDC researcher tracking case

Workers Are Falling Ill, Even Dying, After Making Kitchen Countertops

12:25pm October 02, 2019

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Irreversible lung disease has started to show up among young workers who cut, grind and polish countertops made of increasingly popular "engineered" stone. The material is more than 90% silica.

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Francescangeli says boys sometimes work long hours and are often tasked with pushing carts to move rocks out of the mines. "Being a child in these places is really hard," he says. "If they have some time to spend in a free way, they like to be children. B

Health & Safety

PHOTOS: Dust And Danger For Adults — And Kids — In Bolivia's Mines

7:00am November 17, 2018

by Jake Harper

When photographer Simone Francescangeli took pictures of the miners, he was struck by the dangerous environment — and the number of children he saw working in the mines.

A slurry of cleaned silica sand flows into the wash plant, where it is washed in preparation for storage at the Wisconsin Industrial Sand Co.'s Maiden Rock facility in Maiden Rock, Wis.

Tighter, Controversial Silica Rules Aimed At Saving Workers' Lungs

1:36pm March 24, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Long known as a workplace hazard, silica dust can cause irreversible lung scarring and cancer. The Department of Labor expects its new limit to save about 600 lives a year. But industry is balking.

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