Hundreds of California quartz countertop workers developed an incurable lung condition. Dozens died - KCRA

A new study based on more than seven years of data in California is raising alarms about silicosis, an incurable and sometimes deadly lung disease linked to quartz countertop manufacturing. The study in the New England Journal of Medicine found 592 cases of silicosis among countertop fabrication workers from January 2019 through June 2026. The disease is caused by breathing in silica dust released while cutting and polishing engineered stone, also known as artificial stone or quartz countertops. Of the hundreds of silicosis cases that were analyzed, 65 people underwent lung transplants, and 31 died. The median age of diagnosis for the condition was just 46 years old, and 98% of cases involved Latino men. California continues to track silicosis cases on a public dashboard, which shows a total of 631 cases and 35 deaths, as of Thursday.