The increasing popularity of quartz countertops in home renovations and new construction is exposing more and more American workers to silica dust that causes incurable lung disease known as silicosis.
The danger facing workers who fabricate and install quartz and other engineered stone countertops is compounded because employers often disregard safety practices. A recent California...
Scientific Reports released a new silicosis study that examines dust emissions from machined engineered stones to understand the hazard for accelerated silicosis. The study was born from the recent upsurge in accelerated silicosis cases among those working in the stonemason industry.
Researchers simulated real-time dust exposure scenarios by dry machining engineered stones in controlled...
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited West Virginia’s Continental Brick Co. and proposed fines of $131,972 after an investigation found the employer exposed workers to crystalline silica at its brick manufacturing facility in Martinsburg.
The fines and citations were announced just as the agency unveiled a new program aimed at...
Since 1968, more than 14,000 workers have died in the United States from a lung disease called silicosis, says the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Each year, more than 200 American workers die from silicosis. While workers as young as 22 years of age have succumbed to the illness very quickly, sometimes within a year, the most common length of time to develop silicosis is between 10 and 20...
In the United States, an estimated 2.3 million workers are exposed to crystalline silica—a substance that has caused the most widespread occupational respiratory disease for over 100 years now. For a long time, exposure to the mineral declined after disasters like Hawk’s Nest Tunnel went public. Scientists and policymakers stood together to prevent the exploitation of American workers in...
In the opening lyric of John Denver’s signature classic Take me Home, Country Roads, he describes West Virginia as “almost heaven”—an accurate portrayal of the Mountain State in the eyes of its people. Its picturesque green fields and overlooks make for a hiker’s or a rock climber’s dream come true. But with all its untouched nature and breathtaking views, West...
“Fracking” is the common name for a now widely used process to extract oil and gas – hydraulic fracturing. Though it has existed for well over 60 years, the drilling technique only took center stage in the last decade with the improvement of technologies. As of 2019, the industry has made the United States a major crude oil exporter. However, any economic benefits gained from...
Since its creation in the late 1980s, quartz (an industry term for engineered stone) has been used in custom home building and improvement. The engineered stone’s durability and fashionable element has prompted it to become a popular material used in kitchens and bathrooms. While the manufacturing of the stone has been attributed to a fast-growing industry, the workers who fabricate and...
As American manufacturing industries expand, so does the workforce that enables productive labor and outcome. For over a decade, the engineered stone industry has done just that by fulfilling consumers’ widespread demand for “quartz” countertops. While the artificial stone makes for durable kitchen and bathroom surfaces, the cutting and polishing process it goes through puts workers at...
Masons and other stone workers are suddenly falling ill across the Southwest with silicosis and severe respiratory diseases. The dust created by their work contains silica, and it’s making them sick. The artificial or engineered stone used to make countertops has been identified as a key source of the deadly mineral.
Lung Damage and Deaths Among Makers of Popular Kitchen...
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