Quartz Countertops Health Concerns: Are Homeowners at Risk?

 

You may have heard about quartz countertops being linked with silicosis, an incurable, often fatal, severe lung disease. Because of this, you may be wondering if there are quartz countertop health concerns regarding engineered stone countertops in your home.

Luckily, homeowners are likely not in any danger from quartz countertops, whether the countertop material be artificial stone or natural stone. It is workers in the tabletop manufacturing industry, and similar injuries, who suffer silica dust exposure when respirable crystalline silica dust is sent into the air during the manufacturing process.

How People Get Sick From Quartz Dust

Silicosis is a lung disease caused when crystalline silica dust is inhaled. It is common in the engineered stone fabrication industry.

Those with silicosis develop scarring and inflammation in the lungs, which leads to cough, shortness of breath, cyanosis and fever.

The disease is incurable and often fatal, with 19 percent of patients with it dying in a recent study. The study which investigated cases of silicosis among engineered stone countertop fabrication workers, found that 58 percent of silicosis sufferers have a delayed diagnosis.

Are Homeowners in Danger?

Homeowners aren’t in any danger from quartz countertops unless they’re cutting or drilling into the countertops.

The way people get silicosis from these countertops is from cutting them during the manufacturing process. Cutting the countertop material sends silica dust into the air, which is then inhaled. This is how workers develop silicosis.

Which Workers Are at Risk for Silicosis?

The workers who are at the highest risk for silicosis are workers who work with synthetic quartz. Synthetic stone has a much higher silica content than natural stone, so workers who are around synthetic stone while it is being cut have the greatest risk of developing silicosis.

Workers who are around the following materials may be at risk for silicosis:

• Bitumen
• Quartz
• Mortar
• Grout
• Sand
• Cement
• Engineered stone products
• Granite
• Brick

Workers in the following industries may be at risk of silicosis:

• Cement manufacturing
• Demolition
• Drilling concrete
• Masonry
• Sandblasting
• Mining and quarrying
• Worktop cutting and manufacturing
• Ceramics production
• Pottery
• Construction

The situation is so dire in California that the Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHA) board in the state had to recently come up with emergency regulation regarding the artificial stone fabrication industry in order to protect workers. The regulation includes safety measures to protect workers from silicosis, and comes at a time where the use of artificial stone is way up: quartz surface imports increased by about 800 percent in the United States from 2010 to 2018.

Cal/OSHA estimated that:

• There are about 4,040 workers in California stone fabrication stops
• About 500 to 850 cases of silicosis will probably occur in these workers
• About 90 to 160 workers will likely die from silicosis

Other Materials With Silica Content

There are many materials with silica content in them:

• Quartz: as much as 97 percent
• Sandstone: from 70 percent to 95 percent
• Mortar/concrete: from 25 percent to 70 percent
• Shale: from 22 percent to 60 percent
• Tile: from 30 percent to 45 percent
• Granite: from 20 percent to 45 percent
• Clay: as much as 40 percent
• Slate: from 25 percent to 40 percent
• Brick: as much as 30 percent
• Dolerite/basalt: as much as 15 percent
• Limestone: as much as two percent
• Marble: as much as two percent

Why You Should Avoid Buying Quartz

As stated previously, having a quartz countertop in your home will likely not endanger your immediate family, as it is only dangerous while it is being cut or drilled into.

However, the production of quartz countertops results in workers developing silicosis and often dying from it.

In order to help prevent the deaths of workers, consider purchasing alternatives to quartz which have lower amounts of silica in them.

Quartz Alternatives for Homeowners

There are dozens of alternatives to quarts for homeowners looking for the right countertop material:

• Solid surface
• Laminate
• Ceramic tile
• Granite slab
• Concrete
• Marble
• Stainless steel
• Recycled glass slab
• Slate
• Recycled glass tile
• Soapstone
• Non-recycled glass
• Recycled aluminum
• Reclaimed wood
• Zinc
• Bamboo
• Porcelain
• Paper composite
• Skim-coat concrete
• Honed granite
• Live-edge wood slabs
• Raw-edge stone
• Poured epoxy
• Travertine
• Terrazzo
• Copper
• Quartzite
• Dekton
• Corian
• Polyester
• River rock
• Butcher block

When to File a Silicosis Lawsuit

If you are simply a homeowner who owns a quartz countertop, you are unlikely to qualify for a lawsuit over silicosis.

However, if you are a worker in the stone countertop fabrication industry you may qualify to file a lawsuit. Workers develop silicosis when the proper safety measures are not taken, leading to silica dust being inhaled. A workplace without the proper safety measures is a negligent workplace, and that negligence means that you can file a lawsuit.

We are experienced hazardous exposure lawyers who have been helping victims of exposure to hazardous substances like silica dust and asbestos for over 30 years. We have recovered in excess of 0,000,000 for clients since 1990. We have the expertise and know-how to recover the most money possible for you in a lawsuit involving silicosis.

If you can’t afford to have your silicosis treated, we can get you to a doctor who will treat you without charging you for treatment until your case is over. Doctors are willing to do this for our hazardous exposure clients because doctors know we get great results for our clients.

Contact us today for a free consultation if you or a loved one developed silicosis from working in the stone countertop fabrication industry. We won’t charge you any fee until and unless we recover compensation in your silicosis case – the only fee would be a percentage of any compensation we recover.