Credit score: Unsplash/CC0 Public Area
You have in all probability seen fabricated stone counter tops on an HGTV reworking present—and also you would possibly even have them in your personal dwelling.
The sturdy, reasonably priced, and extremely customizable product debuted in Italy within the Seventies and continues to develop in recognition. Between 2010 and 2018, U.S. imports of engineered stone slabs elevated by 800%. One report predicted that world demand will improve 5.4% every year, to achieve 97 million sq. meters by 2028.
Generally known as manufactured stone or quartz (which is, confusingly, additionally the title of one among its most important parts), to the untrained eye, the fabric seems to be no completely different from pure stone. Considered one of its largest benefits is that it may be made to resemble marble, granite, or almost every other stone.
Beneath the fabric’s acquainted clean floor, nevertheless, lie security dangers for engineered stone staff.
Analysis carried out by a staff of Georgia Tech scientists demonstrates that everybody in a fabrication store is in danger, not simply the employees slicing and fashioning the fabric.
The paper seems within the journal Annals of Work Exposures and Well being.
The group included members of the Enterprise Innovation Institute’s Security, Well being, and Environmental Companies (SHES) program: Jenny Houlroyd, Hilarie Warren, Brandon J. Philpot, and Sean Castillo, who labored with Jhy-Attraction Soo of Georgia Southern College.
The research divided engineered stone staff into 4 danger teams and charted their relative publicity to the fabric’s chief hazard: respirable crystalline silica.
A ‘poisonous product’
Engineered stone differs notably from its pure counterpart, each in composition and at risk to employee well being.
A stone slab minimize from the bottom, comparable to granite or marble, contains a number of completely different minerals and sometimes has a focus of 40% or much less of mineral crystalline silica—often quartz, which is probably the most ample type of crystalline silica.
Engineered stone, nevertheless, can comprise greater than 90% silica. Slabs are produced when silica is crushed, mixed with artificial resins, and compressed utilizing warmth or stress. Throughout fabrication, these slabs are minimize and formed by powered hand instruments. The ensuing mud incorporates respirable crystalline silica—tiny particles that—as soon as inhaled—do not depart the lungs.
Whereas crystalline silica is launched from each pure and engineered slabs throughout fabrication, the engineered slabs’ considerably increased proportion of silica poses a a lot larger danger to human well being. A rising physique of analysis signifies that respiration engineered stone mud results in lung irritation and might trigger acute silicosis, an untreatable lung illness.
“I would classify engineered stone as a really toxic product,” mentioned Houlroyd, supervisor of occupational well being companies at SHES. “When you have something that’s high-risk, you have to prepare for systems to fail and have backup measures.”
Dedicated to security
Over six years, the SHES analysis group collected air-sampling knowledge, making 17 visits to 11 Georgia stone fabrication outlets. The outlets had all requested air-sampling companies supplied by SHES.
“The companies agree that by working with us, they commit to correcting the hazards and reducing exposures, as much as is feasible,” Houlroyd famous.
As a result of most kitchen and toilet countertop fabrication outlets are small employers, staff typically full quite a lot of duties, leading to a spread of publicity elements.
The analysis staff beneficial that each one manufactured stone fabrication staff put on respirators, comparable to an N95 masks. For workers who’re probably the most uncovered, they beneficial a respirator with a powered air-purifying aspect or equipped air.
However private protecting gear (PPE) alone doesn’t guarantee protected circumstances.
“Most of the workers in this industry are relying on respirators as their primary source of protection, and they need a lot more to protect them,” defined Houlroyd. “PPE is the last line of defense, and safety needs to be addressed from all angles.”
A part of that multifaceted technique contains repeated monitoring of air high quality and gear. It is also essential for employers to guarantee that publicity dangers are understood by all staff—not simply staff, but additionally contract and day laborers, in addition to these working for money.
Greater than only a job
As members of SHES, the Georgia Tech analysis staff members are at the beginning well being and security consultants, with experience spanning industrial hygiene, environmental compliance, and Occupational Security and Well being Administration (OSHA) rules.
For Houlroyd, employee security isn’t just knowledgeable calling; it is also a private mission.
“My dad got sick with brain cancer from exposure to contaminants on the job, and he died four years ago,” she mentioned. “Though he didn’t work in the manufactured stone industry, his story is representative of many people who go to work each day to feed their family, are not aware of workplace hazards, and then find themselves sick.”
The general public can play a component in employee security, too.
“Consumers have a choice and can educate themselves about what type of countertop materials they choose to have installed—like how we look at food labels for nutritional information,” mentioned Warren, who oversees the OSHA Coaching Institute Training Heart at Georgia Tech.
“We should be aware of the risk to workers, as well as how the installation process in our homes should be properly managed to prevent dust contamination,” she added.
A zero-risk answer
In 2024, Australia eradicated the dangers related to engineered stone fabrication. Regardless of having enacted stronger rules in 2019, the nation continues to see an increase in silicosis instances ensuing from publicity to respirable crystalline silica.
Australia’s answer? Enacting a ban on the import and fabrication of the fabric till its protected manufacture could be demonstrated.
Of their report, the Georgia Tech group recommends that the U.S. do the identical. As Houlroyd put it, “I would love to see our country find a safer substitution and take this dangerous product off the market.”
Extra data:
Jhy-Attraction Soo et al, Respirable mud and respirable crystalline silica exposures amongst staff at stone countertop fabrication outlets in Georgia from 2017 by way of 2023, Annals of Work Exposures and Well being (2025). DOI: 10.1093/annweh/wxaf014
Offered by
Georgia Institute of Know-how
Quotation:
Scientists pinpoint hazards for engineered stone fabrication store staff (2025, July 28)
retrieved 28 July 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-07-scientists-hazards-stone-fabrication-workers.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Other than any truthful dealing for the aim of personal research or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is offered for data functions solely.
