After confirming the first cases of silicosis from working with this material in the UK, doctors have been calling for workers’ health to be protected in a number of scientific publications. This is what the Australian government has been doing since the beginning of July.
The UK recently became the latest country to report cases of crystalline silicosis in workers who make kitchen countertops out of quartz, which is a fake stone. Claims have been made since 2010.
This dangerous lung disease has already affected people in Spain, Israel, Italy, the US, China, Australia, and Belgium. Now, eight British workers who cut and polished the tables before they were installed have also been affected, which is why experts are calling for a ban.
The people who did the research said that the UK and the EU should do what Australia has done and ban the production and handling of kitchen countertops made from this material.
This severe and quickly progressing form of silicosis does not happen when the worktop is already in place; it happens when it is being cut and the materials are being handled.
This is mostly because engineered stone has a higher silica content (over 90%) than marble (3%), and when it is cut, it makes fine dust.
When counters are getting ready to be installed, they are often cut and polished by hand without using water to stop the dust from forming. This makes the fine dust even more common.
In Spain, at least 1,856 workers have gotten silicosis between 2007 and 2019, according to records of occupational diseases from CEPROSS.
Workers in Vulnerable Conditions
The new research provide a meta-analysis article that can be used to figure out the total risks of this exposure.
Using radiographs, post-mortem exam results, and silicosis death certificates from 52 studies that looked at 8,792 cases of silicosis in the UK over an average of more than 20 years, the authors found that lowering cumulative exposure from 4 mg/m³ (equal to 40 years of work at 0.1 mg/m³) to 2 mg/m³ (equal to 40 years of work at 0.05 mg/m³) cut the risk by 45%. This shows how important it is to limit its use.
The authors say that when they talked about engineered stone, they said, “the market is dominated by small companies in which regulation has proven difficult to implement.” “On top of that, at least some countertop makers might not give enough technical details about possible risks,” they say.
A doctor at Sheffield University Hospitals named Christopher Barber says, “many of those at risk of this type of silicosis are migrant workers who do not speak English and may not fully understand the health risks and have limited access to medical care.”
A Precautionary Ban
“We believe this ban proposal is appropriate and would protect the health of European workers and other workers around the world while encouraging industry to continue to develop safer products,” three other researchers write in an article that came out at the same time in the BMJ Group journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine.
“As an example, products that have more than 30% crystalline silica could be banned from sale.” “Then to a ban of more than 5% after five years,” they say.
“The 5% content was picked at random, and our suggested step-by-step approach should give more information to help figure out what the real safe cut-off level should be.” “For now, all possible precautions should be taken to keep exposure as low as possible.”
Finally they Open their Eyes
A doctor named Cristina Martínez, who is an expert in silicosis and works for the SEPAR in the area of respiratory diseases caused by the climate, was one of the first doctors to report cases in Spain in 2020.
That is why she thinks this group of studies by British doctors is very important. “They are finally starting to understand what we all said.” He took in a family from the Basque Country more than ten years ago.
They worked in the countertop business and were told they had this trouble. “Those were the first cases, and we published it in the clinical literature. We also made it clear that extra care needed to be taken with this material,” he says.
“We went to the Cosentino factory in Almeria to do a study after seeing that more and more cases were coming out across the country.”
We found it strange that the plant was not really that dangerous. The real trouble was that these boards kept getting to small businesses at the same time that construction was popular in Andalusia at the time.
He thinks that the results in the UK are good, but not anything new. “This is something we have known for years, and I am glad they now too. But they only have eight cases published, while we have 96.”
More Studies are Essential
In this case, SEPAR is working on setting up a nationwide registry to find out exactly what is going on. “I guess we should have more information, do a more thorough study of what steps are being taken and how these people are being cared for, before we decide to ban the material,” he says in the end.