Insidious way the pursuit of the perfect kitchen is killing American workers

Quartz countertops person go a must-have summation to modern kitchens and bathrooms successful affluent households. 

But the bluish collar workers tasked with making them are coming down with a deadly information dubbed 'black lung'.

Known medically arsenic silicosis, the illness occurs erstwhile tiny shards of stone, tiny capable to permeate look masks, are breathed successful and marque micro cuts successful the lungs.

Over time, this tears origin irreversible harm to the organs, making the condition effectively a decease condemnation unless the idiosyncratic undergoes lung transplants, which lone bargain them a fistful of years. 

Now, dozens of victims are suing stonemakers for failing to support them successful a increasing question of lawsuits that could upend the satellite of location renovation. 

One specified idiosyncratic is Gustavo Reyes Gonzalez of California, 34, who had treble lung transplant aft moving to the US from Mexico and fitting affluent household kitchens and bathrooms crossed Orange County. 

He won astatine slightest $8 cardinal oregon perchance more, depending connected what a justice decides wrong the adjacent month, against businesses that marque and administer engineered chromatic aft assemblage agreed that they were astatine slightest partially liable for the unwellness that has near him successful symptom and adjacent death. 

His lawyer James Nevin told DailyMail.com that helium presently represents astir 300 workers successful California who person sustained achy lung injuries arsenic a effect of doing their jobs. 

Many of the victims are successful their 30s and 40s and volition dice wrong astir 10 years.

Mr Nevin told DailyMail.com: 'We're uncovering a 92 percent prevalence complaint - astir fabrication workers volition get silicosis... this is conscionable the extremity of the iceberg.' 

Mr Gonzalez is 1 of scores of plaintiffs successful cases alleging that chromatic makers and distributors covered up the risks of moving with their products, but his was the archetypal to spell to trial.

His lawyers judge his lawsuit is simply a bellwether for much to come, with Mr Nevin adding that 'it's the archetypal of galore hundreds if not thousands.'

Mr Gonzalez immigrated to the US from Mexico arsenic a teen to flight poverty, and began moving greeting to evening, six days a week, cutting slabs of quartz chromatic to beryllium utilized successful kitchens and bathrooms.

The durable chromatic is simply a fashionable prime for Americans looking to update their countertops, arsenic it is vigor and stain resistant, and much durable than granite. 

To the customer, it's a harmless, aesthetically pleasing summation to the home. But to the idiosyncratic who saws disconnected pieces and sizes it, the chromatic is deadly. 

Even though quartz is simply a people occurring mineral, the benignant recovered successful American homes is simply a substance of silica – a chemic compound – and different materials specified arsenic metals, resins, and dyes.

When workers similar Mr Gonzalez respire successful the particulate portion sawing pieces of it, the particulate substance travels to the lungs and origin inflammation and scarring. 

This typically wreaks imperishable harm to the lungs and causes shortness of breath, terrible coughing, and eventually, oxygen therapy and astatine slightest 1 lung transplant.

Mr Gonzalez noticed his symptoms worsen successful 2020, having worked successful the manufacture for implicit a decade. It would instrumentality astir a twelvemonth to larn the existent quality of his diagnosis.

He told Business of Home: '[The pulmonologist] told maine I had silicosis. I asked him what that was, and helium told me, 'You're sick due to the fact that of your work, due to the fact that you've been breathing successful silica.'

'I asked him, 'What are we going to do? Is determination immoderate treatment?' and helium said, 'There's thing we tin bash for you, due to the fact that determination is nary cure for this disease.'

Mr Gonzalez near his doctor's assignment successful crisis, definite that helium was going to die.

He added: 'I decided to support moving due to the fact that I needed to prevention immoderate wealth for what was coming. Actually, what I was doing was redeeming wealth for my funeral.'

Mr Gonzalez survived lone due to the fact that helium was capable to person 2 lung transplants successful February 2023. 

But hundreds of thousands of Americans are not truthful lucky. They are languishing connected agelong hold lists for transplants, and 17 radical connected those hold lists dice each day.  

Mr Gonzalez volition request different 1 successful 7 to 10 years, according to 1 of his lawyers, Raphael Metzger, and apt volition not unrecorded past 50.

Mr Metzger said: 'Hopefully, he'll person different 16 years of life, but it won't beryllium a high-quality life. He's not well. He'll ne'er beryllium whole.'

Mr Gonzalez has worked successful a drawstring of chromatic masonry shops, stressing that the occupation facing workers is communal and widespread.

He testified that astatine times, the unreality of particulate successful the aerial astatine these shops would bent implicit the workers like a heavy fog.

His disguise became 'very filthy' and, adjacent erstwhile helium would chopped the chromatic with h2o to minimize the particulate exposure, the chromatic would aboriginal adust and 'a batch of particulate would travel off.'

Caesarstone, which manufactured the quartz, said the onus was connected the shops, not the chromatic manufacturer, to guarantee idiosyncratic safety, saying successful tribunal that injuries could person been prevented if those 'who owned and operated the fabrication store wherever helium worked had done what Caesarstone asked them to do.'

Much of the multi-week lawsuit centered connected determining the protective measures indispensable to shield workers from silica particulate generated by engineered stone, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A bid of adept witnesses testified connected the hazards of cutting specified chromatic slabs. Dr. Kenneth Rosenman highlighted that Reyes Gonzalez developed silicosis adjacent though helium utilized water-dispensing tools, which Rosenman explained were 'not sufficiently protective.'

Industrial hygienist Stephen Petty, different adept for the plaintiff, characterized N95 masks arsenic 'bottom of the barrel' extortion against engineered chromatic dust. He added that adjacent high-grade respirators with cleanable aerial tanks aren't a 'permanent solution,' arsenic workers thin to set the fit, disrupting the protective seal.

Mr Gonzalez's lawsuit and that of dozens of different workers is apt to person a profound interaction connected the location renovation manufacture arsenic request for materials with little silica contented volition apt increase.

Safety protocols for chromatic manufacturers volition apt go much stringent arsenic well, calling for much costly particulate power and ventilation systems and much idiosyncratic protective equipment. Many shops similar the ones Mr Gonzalez worked successful for implicit a decennary whitethorn acquisition immoderate fiscal nonaccomplishment trying to conscionable caller standards.

A prohibition connected engineered chromatic is not connected the contiguous skyline but the question of lawsuits could spur further regulatory action, including tighter vulnerability limits handed down by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and enhanced aerial prime monitoring astatine shops and factories.

Mr Gonzalez  conflict is acold from over. He present faces a beingness of regular medication, which increases his crab hazard owed to the immunosuppressants helium needs to forestall organ rejection.

His medications person rendered him sterile, and helium and his woman volition ne'er beryllium capable to fulfill their imagination of having a child.  

His terrible coughing fits besides damaged his tummy and diaphragm, requiring an further surgeries. Altogether, his beingness expectancy has been extended to lone 10 years.

Gonzalez holds chromatic manufacturers liable for concealing the dangers of their products: 'They marque the material. They cognize the contents of the material. They cognize what products are successful the material.

'They should pass [us of] that, and they didn't pass america thing astir that.'