New Zealand’s only national fabricator calls on industry to follow suit New Zealand’s largest and only national stone benchtop fabricator announces today that it is banning engineered stone that contains more than 40 percent silica – part of its ongoing .
Amanda Cropp05:00, Apr 30 2021
JOSEPH JOHNSON/STUFF
Up to half the bench tops made in New Zealand are made from engineered stone, but the health risks from exposure to silica dust are coming home to roost.
The big slab of Carrara marble in Fabio Valle’s Christchurch living room is a monument to his country of birth and the stone masonry job he abandoned to protect his health. In late 2019 a CT scan showed the 33-year-old former ultra-marathon runner had nodules on his lung, and four months ago he became a real estate agent. “It was a shock. I was quite fit, and I never had any issues with my breathing.”
Joseph Johnson/Stuff
The days of paper masks are long gone in safety-conscious workshops making engineered stone kitchen and bathroom bench tops, but the legacy of historic dust exposure is causing health problems for workers.
WorkSafe is clamping down on safety standards at businesses making engineered stone bench tops, but there are no plans to ban the popular product. Engineered stone made from crushed quartz and resin accounts for up to half the New Zealand kitchen and bathroom bench top market, but the fine dust produced during cutting, sanding and polishing contains high levels of silica which causes accelerated silicosis, an incurable and fast developing lung disease.