The dust of death
The dust from cutting engineered stone for Australian kitchens and bathrooms is killing our tradies.
Last Gasp | 60 Minutes Australia
The calls to ban engineered stone kitchen benchtops and similar building products are understandably growing louder. This may be the only acceptable path if we cannot adequately protect workers from a lung condition that is eerily similar to that caused by asbestos in generations past.
Engineered stone, a composite material that is used as a relatively inexpensive alternative to natural marble or granite, is not hazardous in the home in day-to-day use. But when it is cut, ground, sanded, polished or shaped without appropriate safety procedures, including the use of industrial respirators, it exposes workers and others in the immediate environment to fine particles called crystalline silica, which, when inhaled, can lodge deep in the lungs and cause the deadly disease silicosis.