Millions of American workers are exposed to tiny dust particles that enter the body and leave thousands of lacerations in their lungs.
Known as ‘black lung’ because of the inflammation and scarring it causes, cases are emerging among stone and construction workers accusing their employers of failing to protect them from the incurable disease.
The disease – medically called silicosis – occurs when small pieces of silica, found in beautiful quartz and granite countertops, are inhaled and cause small cuts in the lungs, causing irreversible damage.
It was once thought to be a declining concern that only affected miners who inhaled coal, but in recent years cases have emerged among workers handling artificial stone.
Experts call it an “emerging problem” and emphasize the “urgent need for doctors and public health officials to fully address the issue,” which is not receiving the attention it deserves.
Now dozens of victims are suing brick manufacturers for failing to protect them in a growing wave of lawsuits that could upend the world of home renovation.
James Nevin, a California attorney, told DailyMail.com that he represents about 300 workers in the state who have suffered painful lung injuries as a result of their work.
One of those patients is Gustavo Reyes Gonzalez, a 34-year-old who worked on home renovations in California. He was diagnosed with silicosis in 2021 and is only alive because he underwent a double lung transplant in 2023.
Gustavo Reyes Gonzalez worked for years in brick factories where he constantly inhaled silica dust. It penetrated his lungs and caused permanent damage to his lungs. He has undergone two transplants
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But many of Mr. Nevin’s clients, who are usually in their 30s and 40s, are likely to die from their condition within a decade.
Mr Nevin told DailyMail.com: ‘We find a prevalence rate of 92 per cent – most factory workers will develop silicosis… this is just the tip of the iceberg.’
A analysis Epic Research of 129 million patients, 3,014 of whom were diagnosed with silicosis, found that men were 6.5 times more likely to develop the disease than women.
Data from 2017 to 2023 also revealed that non-Hispanic white patients were 41 percent more likely than black people and 34 percent more likely than Hispanic people to be diagnosed.
The statistics also showed that silicosis rates were highest in West Virginia (154 cases per 1 million patients) and New Mexico (151 cases per 1 million patients).
However, patients often face delays in diagnosis – and therefore treatment – because silicosis can be misdiagnosed.
A study published in July 2023 examined 52 stone workers in California diagnosed with silicosis.
Fifty-eight percent of patients received a delayed diagnosis. Thirty percent were initially diagnosed with pneumonia and 27 percent were diagnosed with tuberculosis.
And once diagnosed, 38 percent already had the disease in an advanced stage with severely reduced breathing capacity.
In California, more than a dozen workers have died from the disease in the past five years.
Mr. Gonzalez is one of dozens of plaintiffs in cases alleging that brickmakers and distributors covered up the risks of working with their products, but he was the first to go to trial.
His lawyers believe his case is a harbinger of more to come, with Mr Nevin adding: ‘It’s the first of many hundreds, if not thousands.’
Mr. Gonzalez immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico as a teenager and began working six days a week cutting slabs of quartz stone for use in kitchens and bathrooms.
Silicosis appears on a CT scan as small white nodules scattered throughout the lungs. Scan courtesy of radiopaedia.org
Researchers warn that cutting quartz countertops releases silica dust, which can damage people’s lungs (stock)
Even though quartz is a naturally occurring mineral – and harmless once placed – the type found in American homes is a mixture of silica.
According to the American Lung Association, approximately 2.3 million American workers are exposed to silica on the job, including 2 million in construction and 300,000 in other industries.
Silica is a chemical compound consisting of silicon and oxygen. There are two types: crystalline and amorphous.
Crystalline silica is found in sand, opal and flint, as well as granite and quartz, two popular materials for kitchen and bathroom countertops.
Amorphous silica is found in cosmetics, personal hygiene products and as food additives. In this form the substance does not cause any harm to human health.
However, the Department of Health and Human Services has classified crystalline silica, which is small enough to be inhaled, as a known human carcinogen.
Although people are exposed to airborne silica particles or products, most are not small enough to be inhaled into the lungs and cause problems.
But when workers like Mr. Gonzalez cut, drill or grind materials containing silica, the dust particles can become small enough to penetrate a face mask, be inhaled and travel to the lungs where they cause microcuts.
This causes permanent damage to the lungs, causing shortness of breath, severe coughing and eventually oxygen therapy and at least one lung transplant.
Mr. Gonzalez noticed his symptoms worsening in 2020 after working in the industry for more than a decade. It would take about a year to discover the true nature of his diagnosis.
Mr. Gonzalez testified that he often worked in a dust fog that made his mask dirty. The manufacturers never warned him and his colleagues that working with the artificial stone could cause irreversible health damage
He told Business of Home: ‘(The pulmonologist) told me I had silicosis. I asked him what that was and he said, ‘You are sick because of your work, because you inhaled silica.’
‘I asked him, “What are we going to do? Is there a treatment?” and he said, “We can’t do anything for you because there is no cure for this disease.”
However, Mr. Gonzalez had to continue working to support himself. He said: ‘I decided to keep working because I needed to save some money for what was to come. Actually, I was saving money for my funeral.”
The worker was awarded at least $8 million in his lawsuit – and possibly more, depending on what a judge decides within a month
Mr Gonzalez only survived because he was able to undergo two lung transplants in February 2023 – and he will likely need another lung transplant in ten years.
His case, and that of dozens of other workers, is likely to have a profound impact on the home renovation industry as demand for materials with lower silica content is likely to increase.
Safety protocols for stone manufacturers are also likely to become stricter, requiring more dust control and ventilation systems and more personal protective equipment.
While the stone manufacturers insist they are not to blame, Mr. Gonzalez holds them responsible for concealing the dangers of their products: “They make the material. They know the content of the material. They know which products are in the material.
“They should have warned us about that, and they didn’t tell us about it.”