Doctors are urging a ban on a popular bench top material - warning the health of tradies, is at risk
Doctors are urging a ban on a popular bench top material - warning the health of tradies, is at risk
Doctors are urging a ban on a popular bench top material - warning the health of tradies, is at risk
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians is calling on the Government to follow Australia's lead in banning engineered stone, over its links to the incurable lung disease silicosis .
A spokesperson says inhaling even small amounts of the dust, has been linked with silicosis and other conditions including cancer and heart disease.
But isn't this a problem with working any stone material? We've had some kind of knowledge of silicosis for literally centuries at this point. Is there something particular about engineered stone that makes it more dangerous than other forms of stone?
Cutting engineered stones generated high concentrations of very fine particles (< 1 µm) with > 80% respirable crystalline silica content, in the form of quartz and cristobalite. Engineered stones also contained 8–20% resin and 1–8% by weight metal elements.
In comparison, natural stones had far lower respirable crystalline silica (4- 30%) and much higher metal content, 29–37%.
Natural stone dust emissions also had a smaller surface area than engineered stone, as well as lower surface charge.