If you’ve ever admired a glossy quartz kitchen worktop gleaming under pendant lights, you’re not alone.
Sleek, durable, and Instagram-worthy, these engineered stone surfaces have become a must-have for modern home makeovers across the UK, looking to cook in style. But behind the trend lies a deadly health crisis that experts say is only just beginning to unfold.
Doctors and union officials are now sounding the alarm over a spike in cases of a serious lung disease affecting tradespeople who cut and polish the same man-made stone that’s transformed countless kitchens. Worryingly, many of those falling ill are still in their 20s and 30s, far younger than doctors typically expect to see with this kind of condition.
As for the reason why this is happening, it’s a hazard that those in the industry wouldn’t usually expect.
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Stonemasons and fabricators working with engineered quartz are breathing in microscopic particles of crystalline silica dust, a toxic substance that can cause a condition called silicosis.
As shared by the NHS, the illness permanently scars and hardens lung tissue. It’s actually been known for centuries in industries such as mining and pottery. However, a new, faster-moving form linked to cutting quartz worktops has now emerged in the UK, with doctors describing it as a ticking time bomb for the trade.
Dr Johanna Feary, a consultant in occupational lung disease at the Royal Brompton Hospital, told MPs and peers that she has been treating a growing number of patients. Speaking to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health, she warned that stonemasons as young as 23 are now being referred for lung transplants.
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Reported by The i paper, she said: “In my clinic, the average age of patients is 31; the youngest is 23, who I’ve just referred for a lung transplant…these are young men, and they have only had a few years of exposure to silica, and even if they were having the current health surveillance program and the chest X-ray after, say, 10 years, they are not going to be picked up.”
The number of confirmed cases has risen by around 460 per cent in just a year, from eight to 45, according to Dr Feary, who described watching the 'disaster of engineered stone silicosis unfold' around the world. Australia has already banned quartz after hundreds of workers were diagnosed there.
Union officials and campaigners are now urging the UK Government to follow suit, warning that without decisive action, a generation of young workers could be left permanently disabled.
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Dr Feary added: “They’re not only worried about their health, they’re not only worried that they’re going to die, but they’re also worried about their financial security. I think that’s something that we need to react to as a nation.”
Experts believe the danger comes from cutting dry, high-silica stone without proper water suppression or ventilation, which creates dust fine enough to shred lung tissue. While the risk of silica exposure is already regulated under UK law, campaigners say enforcement has fallen far behind the surge in demand for quartz kitchens.
As one union official put it: “You only have to go and look in anybody’s modern kitchen these days, in relation to the products that have been used – it’s engineered stone.”
Topics: Health
Ben Williams