Australia enacted a nationwide complete ban on engineered stones in 2024. America’s third-largest state California is reportedly on track to enact the country’s first ban on engineered quartz countertops. Over the past decade, engineered quartz has reportedly dominated American kitchen and bathroom renovations, as it is an affordable, durable, and low-maintenance alternative to natural marble and granite. However, that commercial boom has coincided with an occupational health crisis.
The upcoming ban is in response to an alarming rise in Silicosis, a debilitating lung disease, in people who work with the material, according to a report in USA Today.
In a recent report, the California Department of Public Health estimated that 662 silicosis cases, including 35 deaths and 75 cases resulting in lung transplants, have been diagnosed among quartz manufacturers and workers in the state since 2019.
It said, “California is experiencing a rapidly worsening silicosis crisis among artificial stone workers, driven by dangerous materials and regulatory shortcomings. In the petition, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, called the cluster of silicosis cases a “crisis. “