California is set to become the first US state to ban popular kitchen countertops made with engineered stone, Australia did the same in 2024; 'fear' is growing ...

America's third-largest state California is reportedly on track to enact the country's first ban on engineered quartz countertops. According to a report in USA Today, the upcoming ban is in response to an alarming rise in Silicosis, a debilitating lung disease, in people who work with the material. 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. Australia enacted a nationwide complete ban on engineered stones in 2024.Engineered stones, also called artificial stone or quartz countertops, are man-made stone countertops designed to look like natural stone. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), engineered stone is manufactured by binding 90% to 95% crushed quartz with resins, polymers, and pigments. When workers cut, grind, drill, sand, or polish these slabs, the process generates high concentrations of respirable crystalline silica dust. Inhaling these microscopic particles causes progressive, irreversible scarring of lung tissue.Why California wants to ban countertops made of engineered stonesCalifornia has emerged as an epicenter of the crisis, home to a large concentration of fabrication shops and an escalating caseload among stone cutters. The state, where several quartz countertop manufacturers and fabricators are based, has seen a notable rise in cases of lung diseases.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. In the petition, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, called the cluster of silicosis cases a "crisis." It said, "California is experiencing a rapidly worsening silicosis crisis among artificial stone workers, driven by dangerous materials and regulatory shortcomings."California’s petition wants to follow Australian modelThe petition also mentions Australia banning these engineered stones. It said, "Australia faced a comparable crisis and, after finding that enforcement alone was ineffective, implemented a nationwide prohibition of artificial stone containing more than 1% crystalline silica in July 2024. The ban succeeded: safer alternatives replaced artificial stone without reported job losses or significant consumer impact, and enforcement became dramatically simpler. Prohibiting fabrication and installation of artificial stone in California could substantially mitigate silicosis risk while simplifying enforcement. There is, however, an important caveat — Australia controls the entire supply chain (imports, manufacture, and sale), whereas Cal/OSHA can only regulate sites of employment (such as locations where fabrication and installation occurs). If artificial stone remains commercially available in California, some non-compliant shops may go underground, concentrating risk in the least regulated settings."You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.