• Posted December 2, 2024

Workers Who Make Kitchen Countertops Face Big Lung Hazards

The workers who cut and finished your sleek stone countertop may be paying a price in poor lung health, new research shows.

Breathing in dust created by the manufacture of countertops can cause the lung disease silicosis, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago. 

“There is a critical lack of recognition of exposure and screening for workers in the engineered stone manufacturing industry,” said study lead author Dr. Sundus Lateef. 

Silicosis is more typically seen in workers in the mining or construction industries.

“There needs to be a push for earlier screening and advocacy for this vulnerable population, which in our case were Spanish-speaking immigrant workers," said Lateef, who is a diagnostic radiology resident at the University of California in Los Angeles.

Silicosis is caused by breathing in minute silica crystals. Over time, it can cause irreparable damage to the lungs, ultimately leading to respiratory failure.

While it is typically a rare diagnosis at the Los Angeles hospital, scans started showing up at its radiology department with clear signs of the disease, Lateef's team noted.

In total, the new analysis included 55 engineered stone countertop workers, all Hispanic males, whose silicosis showed up on lung CT scans and in tests of their lung (pulmonary) function. 

A subgroup of 21 men all had advanced silicosis symptoms. They had a median age of 43 years and had been working in countertop manufacture for a median 18 years. (Median means half were older and worked in the industry longer; half were younger and did not.) 

Of those 21 cases, only four were detected when the worker first sought medical attention and radiologists recognized it only about a third of the time. 

The problem for non-specialists, and even some radiologists, is that many aren't expecting to see silicosis or even recognize it on imaging. 

“Silicosis may present with atypical features that may catch radiologists off guard in practice regions where silicosis is not traditionally diagnosed, which can lead to delays in diagnosis,” Lateef explained in an RSNA news release. 

In this study, doctors often attributed the workers' ailments at first to other causes, such as infection, researchers found.

The bottom line, according to Lateef: "This is a new and emerging epidemic, and we must increase awareness of this disease process so we can avoid delays in diagnosis and treatment for our patients."

Responding to the crisis, Lateef and colleagues are helping to implement the California Artificial Stone and Silicosis (CASS) Project. Its goal is to  "promote respiratory health among vulnerable workers in the state’s countertop fabrication industry," according to the news release.

Because these findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. 

More information

Find out more about silicosis at the American Lung Association.

SOURCE: Radiological Society of North America, news release, Dec. 2, 2024