Leading medical staff in the UK, writing for medical journal ‘Thorax’, are calling for industries and governing bodies to follow Australia’s new legislation and ban the use of engineered stone, commonly used for kitchen worktops.  

It comes after cases of silicosis linked to engineered stone exposure recently came to light globally. Workers who have been exposed to engineered stone quartz and dust are now being affected by and diagnosed with severe lung problems, linked to inhaling such dust. Earlier in the year, it had prompted the Australian government to act and ban the use, manufacturing, and production of engineered stone across the entire country. 

Now the UK is being urged to do the same, with the first cases of silicosis related to engineered stone production have now been reported in the country. Various medical staff who have treated workers diagnosed with these cases of silicosis are calling for similar action to be taken in the UK as in Australia. 

According to British newspaper i the first 8 cases of silicosis linked to engineered stone use have been confirmed, all of which are men. The average age of all 8 men is 34, with the youngest to be diagnosed just 27 years old. Of the 8 cases, 1 man has died, and 2 others have been referred for lung transplant assessments. 

The article from i features an interview with one of the diagnosed workers, Malik al-Khalil, a stonemason who is just 31. After working with engineered stone for 5 years, Malik was diagnosis with silicosis, contracted after cutting engineered stone slabs in a small London workshop. Malik said, “I want to let all the people working in this work know what’s happening from this material” and believes the only solution to this growing problem is a nationwide ban of the product; “Of course [it should be banned] because the silicosis is coming from this material.” 

It’s not just Malik and fellow diagnoses patients who are calling for engineered stone to be banned in the UK. Dr Johanna Feary, a respiratory consultant from the Royal Brompton Hospital where Malik al-Khalil is being treated, and lead author for ‘Thorax’, has also highlighted her concerns over exposed to the product. Dr Feary told i “We’ve been anticipating that we would start seeing cases in the UK at some point. That moment has arrived now.” 

The team of doctors writing in ‘Thorax’, who highlighted the first 8 cases, have also called for a legal requirement to report cases of silicosis, as well as calling for the implementation of health and safety regulation for both small companies and national guidelines to treat and monitor for silicosis.

You can read the full article from i newspaper here.

In 2020, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Respiratory Health (APPG) issued the report “Silica, the next asbestos?”, which examined the disproportionate effect of silica dust to construction workers’ lives. 

Since the publication of that report, the APPG were contacted by a number of experts on the subject matter, who highlighted the advances in risk reduction and the particularly promising rise of real-time dust and silica monitoring technology. 

“Trolex believe that the most obvious and immediate benefit of real-time monitoring is in improving safety for those potentially exposed to silica in the workplace.” 

The new, revised report, titled “Improving Silicosis Outcomes in the UK” also explored these new silicosis prevention strategies, including some input from Trolex on the subject matter. From this, the APPG raised several clinical and regulatory recommendations to protect workers from the dangers of occupational silicosis going forward. 

“We recommend that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) assesses and determines the data and technology needed to allow the UK to reduce the WEL for work with silica to 0.05mg/m3.” 

The recommendations from the APPG’s report indicate a number of changes need to be made in order to improve safety across all UK industries which use silica. These recommendations focus on both ways to prevent exposure to dangerous respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in the workplace, including improvements in education, real-time monitoring and reducing exposure limits, as well as improving health and support for those who currently suffer with silicosis. 

“We recommend that the HSE actively considers and consults with industry on the positions of real-time monitoring to complement the hierarchy of controls.”