Hundreds of California stonecutters fall ill with deadly disease for a product we do not need
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Set us as preferred Latino men who cut artificial-stone countertops in California are falling ill from an incurable and deadly lung disease at an alarming rate, a new study finds.These workers are developing silicosis, a condition in which microscopic silica dust contained in the stone slabs they grind and polish is cutting up the inside of their lungs until the organs fail.
Life expectancy can be extended through a lung transplant, but even then the fatal disease will continue to progress.The number of silicosis cases reported in California has increased more than tenfold in less than four years — from 2019 through 2022 there were 47 cases; from 2023 through August of this year, there have been 571, according to data from the state Department of Public Health.
Workers are also falling ill younger and experiencing a more severe and rapid progression of the disease, according to an analysis of the state’s data published in the New England Journal of Medicine.“It’s become clear that this product engineered stone countertops ...cannot be manufactured safely and economically,” said David Michaels, professor of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University and co-author of the study.
“This is a product that we do not need that is damaging the lungs of hundreds of workers [in California] and probably thousands of workers across the country.” California The booming popularity of countertops made of engineered stone has driven a new epidemic of silicosis, an incurable lung disease, researchers have found.Latino men account for about 98% of cases, and about half of the cases have been reported in L.A.County, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The San Fernando Valley is the epicenter of California’s artificial-stone-cutting industry, where dozens of shops are clustered.The...