workers have gotten sick, and even died, after cutting this engineered stone and breathing in its dangerous dust, public health officials say.
Overseas, some are even calling for a ban on selling engineered quartz for countertops.
— NPR
NPR takes an investigative look at some of the workplace safety issues that have arisen amid explosive growth in the engineered quartz industry over recent decades.
The report looks into the incidence of silicosis—a debilitating and progressive lung disease caused when someone inhales silica dust in large and regular quantities—among engineered quartz workers. Silica is a major component of many engineered stone varieties, including in Cosentino's Stone System and Silestone product lines, which are highlighted in the report. The report delves into the company's hit-and-miss efforts to reduce and eliminate the creation of the toxic dust particles that cause the disease by replacing "dry cutting" and "dry grinding" processing operations with water-mediated techniques.
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