Australian Ban on Engineered Stone and Silica Dust

This is the third email I received today on this topic, so yes, I think we need to dive into this a bit more as CA starts to do the same… https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/24/1189745247/silicosis-young-workers-kitchen-countertops-lung-damage-california who has included this (the banning of, or elimination of, much like PVC language many of us have) in their specs? Or library ? and can you share ? F

We've been looking into alternatives to engineered stone for about a year now; to my knowledge, safe handling is too often unacheivable. We haven't entirely rid our library of engineered stone in the same way that we've gotten rid of PVC; still having conversations with clients. Our firm is mostly healthcare, so finding a material that is as easy to clean, non-porous, cost competitive, AND healthier has been a challenge. We are trying out Crossville porcelain slab on two projects that are currently under construction.

I'm no expert on OSHA regs and am not going to elaborate on the construction industry's significant social equity contractor issues, but concrete (think ubiquitous, high-volume cutting, grinding, and polishing of silica-containing material), tile, and some stone all have potentially significfant silica dust problems, and hence corresponding OSHA regs surrounding their manufacturing and installation; regs that are hopefully followed but often aren't. Though the silica/engineered stone problem has been known for years, it seems to have missed most OSHA scrutiny—even though engineered stone contains actual, friggin' silica-containing stone! But that is hopefully changing. Last Sept, OSHA finally got around to dealing with the issue. Will engineered stone be driven out of the market before worker safety measures are in place and enforced? Would we be having this discussion if engineered stone had been on OSHA's radar sooner or if OSHA-complying wet cutting saws were employed on site, as with stone or tile? We'll see where it goes! BuildingGreen has a countertop product guide here but note that some products, such as tile, are found in their own guides.

Also not an expert, but am aware that silicosis, is receiving more attention in the world health community and is on the upswing in China and other places where workers and miners are not well protected. It is hard to quantify, because, like asbestosis, it may take decades to develop. I first read about it when looking at the health impacts of silica mined for glass much of which comes from China. This was probably triggered by The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How it Transformed Civilization or my continued concern about the real cost of triple glazing and window replacement. It is the challenging issue of understanding and avoiding the health issues our material choices make, not just for the our building occupants and contractors, but for people along the supply chain. Of course, many vulnerable people take jobs with health risks so the ultimate solution will be consitent universal worker protection. 

While we wait and advocate for better regulations, we can start asking manufacturers about the safety protocols and oversight measures employed during manufacturer and recommendations or training guidance for installers. The HPD includes silica in its Form-Specific-Hazard special condition. We are going to explore ways to add transparency around manufacturer and installation safety to this special condition. There are performance and durability benefits of engineered stone (and other silica-based products), and the negative health impacts for workers should be avoidable. If we let manufacturers know that it's either demonstrate consistent worker safety or we'll use other materials, we should get things to move faster and more reliably than through regulation alone. We haven't used yet but are interested in sintered stone, like this: https://www.caragreen.com/brands/lapitec/, but there are trade-offs due to the high temperature processing. I'd love to hear about anyone's experience with these materials. Thanks!