What Is Silica?
Silica is another name for silicon dioxide and is made up of the elements of silicon and oxygen. Silica is commonly found in nature, especially in minerals such as quartz and rocks such as granite (which contains quartz).
Quartz aggregate serves as the primary ingredient in engineered stone. Engineered stone is popular with countertops, as it’s usually cheaper than natural stone, is easier to maintain and is less prone to staining.
Because quartz (which is mostly made of silica) is the primary ingredient in engineered stone, the dust produced during the fabrication of engineered stone presents a danger to workers who don’t use proper safety and protective equipment. In most cases, engineered stone countertops contain more than 90% silica.
Why Is Silica Dangerous?
RCS is often produced when materials containing silica are altered from activities such as grinding, cutting, crushing, polishing, sawing or drilling. RCS exposure can occur in workplaces that don’t involve countertops, such as sandblasting, construction, mining, foundry work, and fracking.
What Health Issues Are Associated With Respirable Crystalline Silica?
According to OSHA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), workers regularly exposed to RCS have an increased chance of developing the following health problems:
- Lung cancer
- Kidney disease
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Autoimmune disorders
- Lung and cardiovascular impairment
As serious as these are, the single biggest silica-related health concern is silicosis.
What’s Silicosis?
Silicosis is an incurable and progressive disease of the lungs. When a person inhales RCS, the particles get lodged into the lungs and cause inflammation and scarring. With enough exposure, it can cause death. Before it gets to that point, an individual will usually suffer from one or more of the following:
- Decreased lung capacity
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Weakness and fatigue
- Persistent cough
- Fever
- Night sweats
- Leg swelling
- Bluish discoloration on certain parts of the body, especially the lips.
These symptoms depend on the length and intensity of the exposure. It sometimes takes years or even decades for noticeable symptoms to occur if the exposure is not extreme. But if someone’s lungs are exposed to large amounts of silica dust in a short period of time, any of the above symptoms can occur in as little as a few months.
Does Working With Engineered Stone Countertops Cause Silicosis?
Without careful workplace safety procedures and without use of protective equipment, yes. Yes, because inhaling silica dust likely causes silicosis. In fact, the risk of silicosis and working with engineered stone is so high that there’s a ban on the importation, use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone in Australia.
However, the risk of developing silicosis is lower if proper workplace safety steps are taken, such as:
- Utilizing wet processing methods for engineered stone.
- Having special machines to scrub and vacuum the water on the floor that collects after the water’s been used to remove some of the RCS from the air.
- Installing special air handling systems to remove silica dust particles from the air.
- Having workers wear proper protective equipment, like respirators.
Unfortunately, many businesses in the engineered stone industry don’t have the resources to put these safety systems in place.
Legal Remedies for Those Suffering from Silicosis
Many lawsuits have been filed and many of them have been successful, often through settlement agreements. Yet there’s at least one that went to trial in a California state court resulting in a $52 million verdict. While this may be an outlier result, its success signals that more silicosis-related lawsuits are coming. But there are two things to note about this potential rise in silicosis litigation.
First, many of the plaintiffs are only suing the manufacturers of engineered stone, not the companies that fabricate the engineered stone into countertops. The practical reason for this is probably because manufacturers likely have more money than fabricators. After all, these fabricators are the same businesses that often lack the resources to implement sufficient workplace safety protocols for RCS. Whether most courts agree with this strategy remains to be seen.
Second, most of these cases will be individual lawsuits. Class action lawsuits are unlikely given the unique nature of the alleged injuries and their causes. Multidistrict litigation (MDL) is an option, but a previous attempt failed badly when the judge assigned to the MDL noted in a legal opinion that many of the silicosis diagnoses “were manufactured for money.” In the near future, silicosis victims who decide to sue will likely file their own lawsuits rather than take collective legal action.
If you’re suffering from a health problem you believe is connected to engineered stone or silica exposure, please talk to your doctor or primary care provider. You may need to be persistent in getting the right diagnosis, as silicosis is sometimes misdiagnosed as pneumonia, tuberculosis or pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs). If you want to learn more about your legal rights, feel free to reach out and I’ll do my best to help. You can set up an initial consultation using the online contact form or by calling 919.334.6277.