Trendy stone kitchen worktops should be BANNED as they raise risk of incurable lung disease, after 8 cases in the UK urge doctors

Trendy stone kitchen worktops should be BANNED as they raise risk of incurable lung disease, after 8 cases in the UK urge doctors READ MORE: Warning that junk food-laden diet may raise risk of kidney stones By Kate Pickles Health Editor For The Daily Mail Published: 18:30 EDT, 6 August 2024 | Updated: 18:30 EDT, 6 August 2024 e-mail View comments Strong yet elegant, quartz kitchen worktops have become a staple in millions of homes. But the trendy countertops could soon join the ranks of asbestos as a banned building material amid growing concerns over its safety. Cheaper than granite or marble, its surge in popularity is being blamed for the rapid rise of a deadly lung condition – artificial stone silicosis.

In the last year, there have been 11 UK cases including one death from the progressive disease, caused by breathing in crystalline silica dust during manufacturing or fitting. This has led to calls for officials to follow Australia’s example and ban the material to protect workers. Expensive quartz worktops are made from one of the hardest minerals on earth which, when processed, results in the release of potentially harmful particles of fine dust.

Until then, all possible control measures should be legally enforced to minimise workers’ exposure to the harmful crystalline silica dust generated during its manufacture and fitting, experts say. Engineered from one of the hardest minerals on earth, the worktops are typically composed of about 90 per cent ground quartz, .