10/12/2026
Hundreds of countertop workers have been diagnosed with an incurable and fatal lung disease.
Popular for their durability and sleek appearance, engineered stone countertops—commonly marketed as quartz—harbor a severe health hazard for the trade workers who craft them.
Cutting, grinding, and polishing these slabs releases microscopic crystalline silica dust deep into workers' lungs. Inhaling these toxic particles causes silicosis, an irreversible and progressive condition that destroys pulmonary tissue, severely diminishes respiratory function, and often leaves advanced cases requiring life-saving lung transplants.
In response to a growing public health emergency, California officials are drafting emergency rules to prohibit the fabrication and installation of engineered stone containing more than 1% crystalline silica. The proposed regulations follow a study published in NEJM Evidence, which documented 592 cases of silicosis among California countertop workers between
January 2019 and June 2026. While the rules remain in the rulemaking stage and do not yet constitute a full statewide ban, regulators aim to eliminate hazardous high-silica exposure to safeguard vulnerable fabrication workers.
source: Heinzerling, A., Flattery, J., Cummings, K. J., Harrison, R. J., Fazio, J. C., Gandhi, S. A., Khan, A., & Michaels, D. (2026). Silicosis among workers fabricating engineered stone ("quartz") countertops in California, 2019-2026. NEJM Evidence, 5(9).
