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?
this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2024
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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.
Thank you for the detailed response! So, it's not that you don't get this with natural stone - it's that the engineered stone is in fact far, far worse for it than the natural options.
Lobbyists are already muddying the waters on this, gonna have to be vigilant.
Abrading power tools creating very fine particulate dust is a problem no matter what you are cutting or grinding whether that be concrete,natural stone , asphalt or whatever.
But it is not just the power tools creating even finer silica particles when applied to engineered stone though, it's a mixture of everything thrown into the matrix of these quartz conglomerates being ground into respirable dust,the resins ,metals and some lower end slabs have even been found to contain toxic waste.
And with quartz being piezoelectric when fractured ,the tiny particles created seem to attract other nasty particles including the heavy metals and resin particles from not only within the engineered stoneslabs themselves ,but also from the abrading buffs and blades.
Obviously it is a bit more complicated than that ,but yip the engineered stuff not only makes finer dust it also contains a higher percentage of other nasties you would not want to get into your lungs or system .
Oh I didn't even think about the piezoelectric effect in quartz particles generating a charge! Shoulda, I'm pretty familiar with the phenomenon. So not only are you getting all the usual badness with the silica dust, you've got it and all these other carcinogens accumulating in higher concentrations in some areas all throughout the body thanks to the "raindrop effect" of charged particulates. Brutal.
Still. The actual problem is the working methods making the dust airborne, isn't it? If the material is treated with proper methods in manufacturing, it'll be long lived and perfectly safe in use, right?
This is the problem though ,it would take a book to cover all the practical difficulties on how to safely handle any hazardous material on site.
There are fabrication shops these days where humans play no part in the manufacturing process apart from the programming of the machines and pushing a button ,all the cutting is carried out using various methods in sealed units .(Although these yards produce their own serious environmental issues )
What computerised machines in sealed units can not do though is take the prefabricated piece of whatever and install it into it's intended home ,you need Homo sapiens for this purpose and unfortunately this is where dust becomes airborne.
And that is just on new build or installation projects ,once you enter into the big outside world of restoration,renovation,alterations,conservation, demolition,tunneling,mining,crushing ,hydraulic fracturing ..etc etc ,you enter a world where dust has to be created no matter how you handle whatever material has to be removed or altered.
There are thousands of expensive dust reducing safety products out there everything from surfactants to vacuums,not all are practical and none are 100% efficient.
The answer is making sure the workforce is aware of the dangers through training and education,regular health monitoring, and it would also be beneficial to have a functioning safety regulator!
It is perfectly safe in use, as I understand it, it's just not safe for humans to work it into a form suitable for installation. I can't imagine a single reasonable scenario in which someone's going to find their countertop ground to fine particulate dust. However if it does get pulverised and airborne, it's way worse to get into your lungs than natural stone because of all the other contaminants that go into making engineered stone which you don't find in the natural stuff. Think of Florida's plan to put radioactive waste into their tarmac as another example - tarmac gets torn up and some of it does get fine enough to hang around in the air, it's part of smog. We breathe that in. Obviously it's not good if it's not radioactive. Make it radioactive though and you have a much bigger problem.