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California health officials have confirmed 35 deaths and 662 illnesses linked to quartz countertops since 2019, according to Daily Mail reporting. In 2025 that figure jumped to 103. So far this year officials have already logged 150 cases. The average age at diagnosis is 45; among those who died the average was 52.
As reported by Daily Mail, occupational-health expert Dr David Michaels, who led a related report, was direct: “Hundreds of workers have been sickened making quartz countertops, a product we do not need, especially when a safer alternative is available. The numbers have climbed sharply. For years the state recorded only four or five silicosis cases annually. Most of the patients are Latino men. Sixty-five people have already needed lung transplants, and more than a hundred others have been referred for the procedure. Given the hundreds of diagnosed cases of silicosis in California, there are likely thousands of more cases across the country. New York City and Massachusetts have already issued alerts to doctors. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test Get the latest Lifestyle News and more. Download the TOI app.
Australia went further last year, becoming the first country to ban the import of engineered quartz.
Rebecca Shult, a lawyer for engineered-stone maker Cambria, told lawmakers earlier this year: “The problem is the process, not the product. The danger is not the finished countertop sitting in a kitchen. Once installed, the surface poses no risk to homeowners. Quartz contains high levels of silica. When the stone is cut or polished it releases fine dust into the air. Workers who breathe that dust over time develop silicosis, a condition that scars the lungs permanently. There is no cure. The only treatment for advanced cases is a lung transplant. Manufacturers and distributors have pushed back. Some experts agree that better ventilation, wet-cutting methods and consistent use of protective equipment could lower the risk. Others argue that the dust is so fine and persistent that safe cutting is nearly impossible under real-world conditions.
The problem begins earlier, in the workshops where the slabs are cut and shaped.
Denisse Gómez, spokeswoman for the Department of Industrial Relations, which oversees the board, put the decision in blunt terms: “The standards board’s decision reflects the urgent need to protect workers from a product that has proven uniquely hazardous”, to Daily Mail. For years quartz countertops have been the go-to choice for modern kitchens. They look sleek, resist stains, and cost less than natural stone. Yet in California the same material that transformed so many homes is now at the centre of a public-health emergency. Officials say the dust created when workers cut and polish these slabs has left hundreds of people with an incurable lung disease and has already claimed dozens of lives. Later this month the state is expected to become the first in America to ban the production and installation of engineered quartz countertops in an effort to stop the harm. The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is preparing an emergency regulation that would halt both the making and the installing of quartz countertops across the state. Emergency rules can take effect immediately when officials show a clear threat to health or safety, skipping the usual year-long process. A decision on the public notice is expected later this month. The move is an admission that existing rules, including requirements for workers to wear tight-fitting N95 masks, have not been enough.