Skyrocketing number of Californians stricken with incurable disease tied to common kitchen item: study

New York Post ^ | Aug. 14, 2026 | Titus Wu

[nickcarraway]

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. 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.

---

TOPICS: Education; Health/Medicine; Society
KEYWORDS: california; fearporn; health; lungs

[lastchance]

Is it now just becoming known that when working with any material that produces large amounts of dust it is necessary to wear a mask or you risk serious damage to your lungs?

[lastchance]

I love my quartz countertop.

[lastchance]

“As to the owners, that stuff will go everywhere in the house.
Then there’s the cleanup, including clothes, unless you think the kids should be breathing that stuff too.”

I assume you are referring only to the installation process if the countertops are being cut to size onsite (which I doubt).

[parmamenian]

So are people grinding and sawing their Quartz countertops and breathing in the dust??

[HombreSecreto]

Wasn’t that a song from Mary Poppins?

/s

[Organic Panic]

Well Golly. I guess every ....Latino.... needs more welfare and free money.

[Carry_Okie]

I assume you are referring only to the installation process if the countertops are being cut to size onsite (which I doubt).

I've built a house. It would be unusual for there to be no grinding at the end for a final fit.

[Vaduz]

Granite countertops are technically radioactive, but the levels are very low and do not pose a health risk.

Why Granite is RadioactiveNatural Minerals: Granite is an igneous rock. It contains trace amounts of natural radioactive elements like uranium, thorium, and potassium.Radon Gas: These elements decay over time and can release trace amounts of radon, a colorless and odorless radioactive gas.