First Confirmed Case of Engineered Stone Silicosis Prompts Alert in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued an alert (PDF) on Dec. 9 that urges employers in the stone countertop industry to protect workers from exposure to respirable silica dust. Of particular concern are processes that generate dust from engineered or artificial stone, which contains a significant amount of crystalline silica—typically more than 90 percent. By comparison, granite averages 10 to 45 percent silica, according to OSHA and NIOSH.
Massachusetts’ alert follows the state’s first confirmed case of silicosis in a stone countertop fabrication worker, a Hispanic man in his 40s who had worked in the industry for 14 years by the time he was diagnosed. The alert also comes less than a month after a similar advisory was published in California describing that state’s continued rise of silicosis cases among stone fabrication workers and informing healthcare providers that they must report cases to their local health department. Silicosis is also a reportable condition in Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts stone worker’s symptoms began approximately 10 years after he started work as a fabricator. His early symptoms were cough and shortness of breath, and later symptoms included fatigue and weight loss. He was diagnosed earlier this year, four years after he noticed the first symptoms, the alert says. The worker described conditions at his first company—where he worked for 12 years—as “very dusty.” He reported infrequent use of wet methods and said he was given surgical masks to wear on the job rather than appropriate respiratory protection.
According to Massachusetts’ alert, most engineered stone workers with silicosis in the U.S. are relatively young men who are Hispanic or Latino. These demographics align closely with the composition of the U.S. stone countertop industry as a whole. The alert cites data from the Census Bureau that indicates that more than half of workers employed in the industry in 2023 “were under 45 years old, nearly three-quarters were men, and more than 1 in 3 were Hispanic/Latino.”
Workers in the countertop industry have become increasingly affected by silicosis due to the popularity of countertops made from engineered stone. A press release accompanying the alert from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health describes engineered stone silicosis as “a growing occupational health concern.”
“Between the long latency period before symptoms show and the current demand for engineered stone products, additional cases of engineered stone-associated silicosis are, unfortunately, expected to emerge in the future,” the press release warns.
A PDF of the alert can be downloaded from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health website. Also available are PDFs of a hazard alert for countertop workers in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Related: In the October 2024 issue of The Synergist, members of the NIOSH Engineering and Physical Hazards Branch addressed questions related to protecting workers in the stone countertop industry.