Minnesota company leads manufacturing of quartz countertops that California poised to ban
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For decades, the coal mining industry has been reckoning with a disease called black lung. Now a similar condition is disabling and even killing workers who cut artificial stone, for trendy quartz countertops and backsplashes. It's called silicosis, and you get it by breathing in tiny crystals of a mineral called silica.
The nation's largest manufacturer of artificial stone is Cambria, a company based in Minnesota. But California is the epicenter of silicosis cases in the U.S. and regulators in that state could soon ban the making of these products.
For more on what health professionals in California and around the country are seeing in silicosis patients, MPR News host Nina Moini talked with Dr. Sheiphali Gandhi. She leads the California Silicosis Support and Research Network at the University of California-San Francisco, where she is an assistant professor of medicine.
MPR News reached out to Cambria, which has faced hundreds of lawsuits related to silicosis, and has not received a response. The company has said repeatedly that it maintains safe working conditions, partly by wetting facilities to keep dust out of the air. It blames lung disease on smaller fabrication shops in the supply chain.
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The Minnesota Department of Health tracks silicosis cases using hospitalization data. Cases have decreased over the last 15 years, according to a spokesperson.
“Recent events in other states have raised the profile of silicosis among public health professionals and we are working to learn more about the silicosis issue,” the spokesperson said in a statement to MPR News. “MDH will continue to monitor our data for any significant changes and will explore changes to state statute that may ease the burden of reporting on providers and ensure quality data.”
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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