Medical experts issue warning that your kitchen countertops are a health risk

25 July 2023 , 14:24

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The making of quartz countertops is giving workers silicosis, a deadly lung disease (Image: Getty)

Quartz countertops have become a coveted kitchen accouterment — but they come at a deadly cost.

The creation of the décor, which is famous for its ability to withstand high temperatures and its scratch-proof, stain-resistant nature, requires workers to cut the material, releasing hazardous dust into the air.

And that dust has been killing the workers by giving them silicosis, a type of pulmonary fibrosis, or scarring of the lungs, that makes it hard or impossible to breathe, according to the American Lung Association.

The dust enters the lungs, sparking lung inflammation, which eventually leads to the formation of lung nodules, which then leads to scar tissue forming.

Silicosis is a form of pulmonary fibrosis, or scarring of the lungs, that almost always proves deadly (David W. Cugell, MD)

Many of the workers are very young - only in their 20s when they contract the disease and succumb to it.

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A study by a group of California doctors published in peer-reviewed journal JAMA Internal Medicine examined 52 male silicosis patients diagnosed between 2019 and 2022.

Twenty had advanced disease, and 10 of them total died. Many others were on the list for transplants, and seven were rejected for the life-saving procedure - resulting in the death of six.

Others suffered from hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen in the blood.

All of them had worked extensively with engineered stone like quartz, with many having around 15 years of experience working in the field. Their average age was 45.

Leobardo Segura-Meza, a 27-year-old who participated in the study, is one of the men on the list for a lung transplant. But the wait has been a long one, and he fears he'll die before he receives the procedure, just like two of his colleagues did.

Lung transplants are required or suggested for many patients of silicosis (Getty)

He immigrated to Los Angeles from Mexico in 2012 and immediately found employment as a stone worker. He was 17 at the time.

Segura-Meza, who has a wife and three young children, was careful - he always wore a mask and used other dust-reducing tools while he worked.

Even still, he went to the emergency room in February 2022, complaining of shortness of breath, and was diagnosed with silicosis.

Now, he's on an oxygen tank and has no way to provide for or support his family.

"Every day, I hope that the phone rings, telling me to come to the hospital to get my new lungs," he said in a statement that accompanied the study.

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Segura-Meza is one of many Latino immigrants who have been diagnosed with silicosis - 51 of the 52 men studied were Latino.

The disease impacts around 2.3 million Americans, according to the American Lung Association, and most of them work in construction.

Tuberculosis is often a symptom of more severe cases of silicosis (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Symptoms include shortness of breath and coughing, which often lead to weakness, fatigue, fever, night sweats, lung swelling and, in severe cases, tuberculosis, lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, kidney disease and autoimmune disorders.

The disease ultimately progresses over time, and there is no cure. But treatments exist, which can include the use of bronchodilators, pulmonary rehabilitation and oxygen therapy. In the most extreme cases, lung transplants are necessary.

Some municipalities are considering a complete ban on quartz countertops due to the dangers associated with making them.

The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, for example, unanimously voted to task the county's director of public health to make a report "on the options to ban the sale, fabrication, and installation of silica fabricated stone in the County, including a plan to educate and advise businesses, with options for the use of other construction materials with less health risks to workers."

The results must be delivered within 90 days of the ask, which occurred in early June. It would become the first municipality in the country to impose such a ban.

Jeremiah Hassel