Occupational Health and Safety

CBS reports that a fast-growing U.S. market for engineered quartz countertops is driving a wave of severe silicosis among countertop fabrication workers, a lung disease once mostly associated with miners nearing retirement but now striking men in their 30s and 40s, often Hispanic immigrants. In small shops from California to Texas, Florida and the Northeast, workers cutting and finishing engineered stone—which can contain up to 95% crystalline silica—are being diagnosed with irreversible lung scarring, with some, like 37‑year‑old César Manuel González, already facing lung transplants. California alone has identified 519 confirmed cases and 29 deaths linked to engineered-stone work since 2019, with a median age at death of 49, and occupational-lung specialists say cases are rising sharply nationwide even though silicosis is not a nationally reportable disease. More than 370 lawsuits accuse manufacturers of failing to warn workers or selling a product that cannot be handled safely, while manufacturers insist that wet cutting, ventilation and respirators can make fabrication safe and members of Congress are weighing legislation that would largely shield these companies from liability. The fight is quickly becoming a national test of how far U.S. law will go to hold a $30 billion industry responsible for long-known dust hazards versus allowing potentially lethal exposures to continue under the banner of personal protection and workplace compliance.