Companies that make engineered stone slabs, a popular choice for kitchen and bathroom countertops, are developing and marketing new products amid growing concerns about stone cutters contracting a fatal lung disease.

The new alternatives feature lower levels of crystalline silica, a mineral that can cause an incurable disease called silicosis if workers inhale tiny dust particles from cutting and grinding stone.

Doctors have linked a global outbreak of severe silicosis among young stone cutters to the growing popularity of artificial stone, which can contain up to 90% crystalline silica. In California, health officials have confirmed 180 cases of silicosis among countertop cutters in less than six years, leading to at least 13 deaths.

Manufacturers of engineered stone say their slabs can be cut safely when proper precautions are taken, and that poor workmanship, not their products, is to blame. But amid legal battles and calls to ban man-made stone, some companies have also begun offering new products with less crystalline silica.

Such alternatives have quickly emerged in the Australian market, where government regulators have recently prohibited installation of artificial stone. Dr Ryan Hoy, a senior research fellow at the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at Monash University in Melbourne, said many of the new products are made from silica derived from recycled glass, which is “much less toxic than its crystalline form”.

However, he warned that such slabs may contain other dangerous elements. “There’s definitely a pressing need for further toxicology testing,” Hoy said, but in light of the known harm workers have suffered from crystalline silica, “I think moving toward them is prudent rather than delayed.”

Masons work at the Sun Valley store in 2023.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The global market for engineered stone, a product valued by buyers for its durability, typically lower prices and wide variety of colors and patterns, is estimated at approximately $25 billion market researchers.

Marcos Santa Ana, president of design-build firm Alloi in Southern California, said he can only remember one client in recent years who raised concerns about silica content and asked about alternatives: an Australian who chose a birch countertop instead.

Turning to new products gives engineered stone companies an opportunity to remain in the Australian market. According to rules there, engineered stone – a product made by combining stone materials with chemical components such as resins and pigments – can still be used as long as it contains less than 1% crystalline silica. Workplace safety officials in Australia said legal alternatives also included some products made of porcelain or “sintered stone” – a man-made product made by binding minerals under heat.

But the engineered stone industry is also promoting products with lower silica content outside the Australian market. One large company headquartered in Spain, Cosentino, currently produces Silestone slabs with a crystalline silica content of no more than 40%, and also offers a range of products with 10% or less mineral.

In an email, Cosentino said it began researching technology that helped reduce crystalline silica in its products more than seven years ago, long before any ban was put in place. In Australia, where 10% crystalline silica still exceeds the limit for artificial stone, slabs made from other materials such as porcelain are sold.

Another company, Israeli Caesarstone, is now selling Collection “Crystalline-Silica Free” in Australia, which safety data shows contains less than 1% crystalline silica, and said it plans to introduce similar offerings in the US. Its subsidiary Caesarstone USA said in a written statement that such products “are part of our broader commitment to industry leadership toward safer and more sustainable practices.”

Caesarstone USA said it also has an existing “low silica” line with less than 40% crystalline silica already available in the US. The company added that it is currently “developing new products containing less than 1% crystalline silica that are expected to offer even greater safety benefits,” although “the success of these products in development and their market demand are still unclear.” .

Dr. Robert Harrison, a professor of occupational medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said he had not seen so many cases of severe and fatal silicosis until engineered stone countertops rich in crystalline silica came on the market.

“It’s still unclear whether these (new) products are completely safe,” Harrison said, “but they are probably safer than the crystalline silica products we sell now in the United States.”

Crystalline silica destroys the lungs, injuring them from the inside. Scientists from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health presented a study at a national conference this year, concluding that it is likely that the harmful effects experienced by countertop cutters are “primarily due” to the crystalline silica content of the material, which they cut and polished. .

Leobardo Segura Meza, seen at his Pacoima home in 2023, is among the countertop carvers suffering from silicosis, an incurable lung disease.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

But when researchers from the University of Adelaide and the University of Tasmania reviewed How lung cells are affected by dust from stone products, including some versions of engineered stone with reduced silica content, the results showed that “silica was not the only problematic component,” said Chandni Ramkissoon, a public health researcher at the University of Adelaide.

Other concerns Ramkissoon and her colleagues noted include metals such as aluminum and resins that can release volatile organic compounds when cutting slabs. They also noted that while the “reduced silica” slabs did release less crystalline silica when cut, the silica particles tended to be very fine. This has health implications as smaller particles can travel deeper into the lungs.

“It’s enough to make you wonder if they really are that much safer,” Ramkissoon said.

Cosentino said it commissioned a study from the Instituto de Tecnologia Ceramica in Spain, which found that one of its “low silica” slabs released less crystalline silica than natural granite and contained the same amount of metals such as aluminum and tin.

According to Cosentino’s summary, the slab did not release appreciable amounts of any “toxic organic compounds” when cut, and there were no “significant differences in particle sizes.” A spokesman for the Spanish institute said that, in accordance with its privacy policy, it could not provide any information about unpublished results.

Cosentino and industry groups also stressed that regardless of the material, safe methods must be used. Any type of stone generates dust when cutting, so “following proper safety precautions is critical, regardless of the type of material,” said Marissa Bankert, executive director of the International Surface Manufacturers Association, which represents businesses that cut and polish slabs.

A worker polishes a countertop at a Sun Valley store in 2023.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

So far, California regulators have balked at the idea of ​​banning artificial stone, opting instead to introduce stricter rules on workplace safety. State check The creation of a licensing system for stone-cutting shops was canceled in July this year by its author, who said government regulators were not receptive to the idea.

Without such a system to track stone cutting shops, Assemblywoman Luz Rivas (D-North Hollywood) said it would be impossible to properly enforce any safety regulations. In its absence, she said, California regulators’ current tactics are “simply using workers as guinea pigs to find out after the fact” whether their efforts save lives.

Asked about new products containing less silica, Rivas expressed caution. “If these low-silica man-made stones continue to lead to an increase in silicosis among workers,” she said, “then I think a ban is the right thing to do.”

After the Australian ban there were calls in the UK and other countries to follow suit. Industry groups strongly opposed the idea: Agglomerated Stone Manufacturers Association. director Beatrice Barbiero stated that “any artificial stone is safe as long as proper health and safety regulations and requirements are followed.”

Engineered stone companies are facing a flood of lawsuits from workers weakened by silicosis. In California the jury Artificial stone production companies were found guilty this summer in a suit brought Gustavo Reyes GonzalezA 34-year-old tabletop cutter who had to undergo a double lung transplant.

Much of the process revolved around whether the blame should lie with the dusty Orange County workshops where he worked or with the companies behind the man-made slabs. In the legal documentation submitted during this happeningGeorgia Tech scientist Jenny Houlroyd opined that neither wet cutting nor wearing masks (usually recommended precautions) will make cutting engineered stone safe.

Holroyd said in an interview that the new products require further study. “It would be great,” she said, “if it could be proven to reduce the risk to workers. But as a scientist, I would like to see this data.”