November 6, 2026
“My son has silicosis. He is 29… It’s hard to watch… you want to help them but you can’t.”
Those words, shared by the mother of a worker suffering from silicosis, capture the human cost of a growing occupational health crisis affecting stone countertop workers across the United States.
Workers who cut, grind, polish, drill, and fabricate stone countertops can be exposed to respirable crystalline silica—microscopic particles of silica dust small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs. Engineered stone, often marketed to consumers as “quartz,” presents a particular concern because some products contain more than 90% crystalline silica.
For the workers breathing that dust day after day, the consequences can be devastating.
Silicosis is a progressive and incurable lung disease caused by inhaling respirable crystalline silica. As silica dust enters the lungs, it can cause inflammation and permanent scarring that interferes with a person’s ability to breathe.
The disease can progress to the point that ordinary activities—walking, talking, spending time with family, or simply breathing without supplemental oxygen—become difficult.
Silica exposure has also been associated with other serious illnesses, including lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and kidney disease.
The danger is not limited to workers handling engineered stone. Natural stone can also contain crystalline silica. However, engineered stone products can contain particularly high concentrations, creating significant risks when adequate dust-control measures are not used during fabrication.
One of the most alarming aspects of the emerging engineered-stone silicosis crisis is the age of many workers being diagnosed.
Stone fabrication is physically demanding work. Many affected workers spent years lifting slabs, operating saws and grinders, installing countertops, and providing for their families before developing severe respiratory symptoms.
Countertop worker Jose Francisco Andrade Pena described the dramatic change in his life after becoming ill:
“I get tired very easily and have to plan my entire life around my breathing.”
His experience is increasingly familiar among workers diagnosed with silicosis after years of exposure to silica dust.
California, where public health officials have closely tracked the disease among countertop workers, has documented hundreds of confirmed cases. As of September 2026, over 650 California countertop workers had been diagnosed with engineered-stone-associated silicosis. Dozens had died, and dozens more had undergone lung transplants.
The overwhelming majority of confirmed California cases have involved Latino workers.
Engineered stone became enormously popular because of its durability, appearance, and use in kitchen and bathroom countertops.
But creating those finished countertops requires workers to cut and shape large slabs. Cutting, grinding, drilling, and polishing stone can release extremely small particles of crystalline silica into the air.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have warned of the risks of silica exposure in countertop manufacturing, finishing, and installation.
Recommended protections include wet-cutting methods, local exhaust ventilation, HEPA-filtered equipment, appropriate respiratory protection, exposure monitoring, worker training, and other practices designed to keep dangerous dust out of workers’ lungs.
Despite those protections, serious cases of silicosis continue to be identified among stone fabrication workers.
The problem has become severe enough that California regulators are considering prohibiting the fabrication of engineered stone products containing more than 1% crystalline silica.
Perhaps the most troubling part of these cases is that silicosis is an occupational disease that can be prevented by controlling workers’ exposure to respirable silica.
Workers should not have to sacrifice their lungs to earn a living.
Employers are required to take measures to protect workers from hazardous levels of respirable crystalline silica. Depending on the circumstances, legal claims may also involve manufacturers, distributors, fabricators, or others involved in producing and supplying stone products.
When adequate protections are not provided, the consequences can follow a worker and his or her family for the rest of their lives.
A silicosis diagnosis can mean mounting medical expenses, lost wages, an inability to continue working, dependence on oxygen, evaluation for lung transplantation, and—in the most severe cases—death.
It can also fundamentally change life for spouses, children, parents, and other family members who suddenly become caregivers.
As the number of workers diagnosed with silicosis has increased, lawsuits have been filed against companies involved in the manufacture and distribution of engineered stone products.
These cases can involve complicated questions regarding a worker’s employment history, the stone products and manufacturers involved, the duration and intensity of silica exposure, workplace safety practices, medical causation, and the warnings provided with the products.
For workers who spent years at multiple fabrication shops or handled numerous brands of stone, investigating those issues can require an extensive review of employment, medical, product, and exposure evidence.
In recent years, the stone manufacturing industry has received increased national attention as cases of silicosis among countertop fabrication workers have risen. Lawsuits involving engineered stone products have also resulted in substantial jury verdicts for workers suffering from severe silica-related disease.
Wallace & Graham has represented workers and families harmed by dangerous occupational and environmental exposures for more than 40 years.
Our firm is currently investigating claims involving North Carolina stone countertop fabrication workers who have developed silicosis, lung cancer, or other serious lung diseases after occupational exposure to silica dust.
If you worked cutting, grinding, polishing, drilling, fabricating, or installing stone countertops and have been diagnosed with a serious lung disease, we would like to hear from you.
To speak with a North Carolina silicosis lawyer about your potential claim, contact Wallace & Graham, P.A. at 1-800-849-5291.
