“Hundreds of workers have been sickened making quartz countertops, a product we do not need, especially when a safer alternative is available,” wrote David Michaels, co-author of the report and professor at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.
Nearly all of the victims have been men, with about half of them in Los Angeles County, the report said. Their median age is 52.
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The stone has significantly more silica than natural materials such as granite or marble.
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“If artificial stone remains commercially available in California, some non-compliant shops may go underground, concentrating risk in the least regulated settings,” an analysis by California OSHA said.
California OSHA voted in May to move toward a complete halt on quartz countertops, following Australia’s ban of work on the quartz material, despite opposition from industry groups.
When I was doing fire inspections, I ran across these frequently. Almost always, not only did they have almost no workers with breathing and eye protection (most of which were non-English speaking), but they had inadequate dust control equipment which allowed the dust to be hanging in the air and to settle over everything. They also heavily used flammable resins with, of course, next to no ventilation. Not only was it a long term health hazard, it was a dust explosion waiting to happen.
I love my quartz countertop.