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"Nearly half of the workers suffering silicosis in the UCLA and UCSF study said their workplaces were using water to control dust. Roughly a quarter said they a
by dmbche 3y ago
"Nearly half of the workers suffering silicosis in the UCLA and UCSF study said their workplaces were using water to control dust. Roughly a quarter said they always had respiratory protection. Fazio said studies have found that in many shops, dust is so thick in the air that respirators cannot filter out a sufficient amount.
Metzger argued that the kind of sophisticated and costly measures that would be needed to reliably protect workers cutting engineered stone are not economically plausible in an industry where immigrant workers typically labor in small shops and are often paid in cash. Engineered stone "is too dangerous to be used safely," he said. "If there’s any industrial product that should be banned, this is the product.""
All this thanks to synthetic stone - important note for countertops owners, if you want to make sure you don't support the product
- kwhitefoot 3y agoWe have these worktops in Europe too, without the health problems as far as I can tell. It seems that the US either lacks suitable health and safety legislation or fails to enforce it.
- pixl97 3y ago>dust is so thick in the air that respirators cannot filter out a sufficient amount This is not a technology problem, this is an 1880s "Safety devices are too expensive problem" along with paid under the table workers problem. All kinds of other industries manufacture 'dangerous' products with regulations that protect the workers. Housing and agriculture are both industries that do not and fight ever further for anti-regulations to protect the workers even less.
- willcipriano 3y ago[flagged]
- aaomidi 3y agoRemoving the availability of cheap labor by providing more worker rights, and less/no criminalization of undocumented immigrants alongside an h1b reform would do wonders for the general health of this society.
- dcow 3y agoNobody is against cheap workers paying taxes. They’re against undocumented workers getting paid under the table and unfairly competing with documented workers that have to pay taxes and thus are more expensive. Gotta solve the documentation problem one way or another.
- ffgjgf1 3y agoParadoxically there is probably no other developed country where finding work as an un undocumented illegal immigrant is easier than in the US. While immigration laws there are very strict by western standards.
- willcipriano 3y agoOnce illegal immigrants gain citizenship and essentially basic civil rights (being a criminal federally isn't really freedom no matter if your state is sort of cool about it or not) they will no longer be willing to work in these conditions. They don't report or sue now due to their status, people fear deportation and it's often used as a threat by business owners and housewives employing cleaners and nannies.
- rayiner 3y agoOkay, so how long does someone have to be in the country illegally before they gain citizenship?
- bitcharmer 3y agoObserving public discourse regarding illegal immigration offers great insight into how the Overtone window works and how it can be pushed in any direction by elite-owned media. What is essentially illegal is now being called undocumented. It blows my mind. I had to go over a lot of hoops to be allowed to move to and work in Switzerland. It's the right of the host to set the rules and enforce them. If you don't intend to respect that and still come you're doing something illegal. And I've been an expat in multiple countries for the majority of my life. Undocumented just means you broke the law to get in. This is illegall. Let's call a spade a spade.
- daniel-cussen 3y ago[dead]
- mrob 3y agoSpecifically, the problem can be solved with a supplied-air respirator: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplied-air_respirator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplied-air_respirator
- bagels 3y agoExhaust fans, supplied air respirator, water spray, using a waterjet instead of dust producing processes, enclosing the cutting blade in a vaccum. The bulk of the dust hanging in the air could be removed with adequate ventilation fans, which seems pretty basic.
- MutableLambda 3y agoWas searching for "enclosing the cutting blade in a vaccum", found this: https://www.shophacks.com/tablesawdustcollection.html#/ https://www.shophacks.com/tablesawdustcollection.html#/
- b112 3y agoApparently sandblasted jeans are another issue: https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article/63/5/317/1451439 https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article/63/5/317/1451439
- bagels 3y agoAny sandblasting process causes this. Other media might not cause silicosis, but may introduce other kinds of particles in to the air.
- hackernewds 3y agoVote with your wallet is the most effective method. Look at plastic straws today. What kind of countertops should be avoided? Would have been nice if the article suggested some solutions as well
- smeej 3y agoPlastic straws are still ubiquitous everywhere they weren't legislated out of existence. What does that have to do with voting with your wallet?
- zolbrek 3y agoIf only. The EU declared exterminatus on them. I saw a few in the wild recently in Germany and it reminded me of happier times.
- nerdponx 3y agoI'd like to know as well. When my parents remodeled their kitchen they got some kind of simulated granite aggregate made of recycled material that I believe was fully heatproof and held up very well over the years. But did somebody get silicosis in the process?
- LeifCarrotson 3y agoThey might have, you have no way of knowing whether the factory in which they were made used PPE or not. If they were cheap, probably not, if they were expensive, maybe, or maybe the manufacturer was just pocketing more profit.
- rayiner 3y agoMost of these aren’t made in a “factory.” Because countertops are heavy and pretty much all custom sized and shaped, they’re being made in small scale local businesses.
- ffgjgf1 3y ago
- rowanG077 3y agoThis is a problem with all rock cutting. With adequate safety measures there is no problem.
- boringg 3y agoWet cut, venting, wear a mask and regulate if the industry won't self-regulate which seems to be the issue.
- Kirby64 3y agoIt seems that the synthetic stone is not the cause, but highlighting the problem: poor enforcement of safety standards and inadequate PPE provided to workers. Just because there's more silica doesn't mean that it's suddenly unsafe whereas cutting granite is safe. Even drywall or cutting concrete you're supposed to wear PPE.
- Aeolun 3y ago> Even drywall or cutting concrete you're supposed to wear PPE Yeah, but it doesn’t kill you within a few years if you don’t, right?
- pixl97 3y agoConcrete is silica.
- theGnuMe 3y agoIt is dose related although the silica never gets out of the lungs. Demolition, sanding drywall compound all is bad without PPE and Hepa filters.
- hadlock 3y agoIt never leaves your lungs though. In the last 20 years we went from "dust masks are for wimps" to "wow not wearing PPE is terrible". One small silver lining of covid is that even relatively oblivious home owners even wear PPE for small projects now. Smoking OR inhaling large amounts of dust might not kill you, but both are bound to make you miserable later in life. There is already a steep drop off in lung cancer deaths, peaking in the early 1990s. Right now we're down to about 1930s level despite having nearly triple the population. You can buy a cheap yet very comfortable 5000 or 7000 series respirator from 3M for about $20 and the "pink pancake" P100 filters are another $12. If you're a hobbyist those ought to last you a year, maybe even 5 depending on what you're cutting. I do metalwork as a hobby and I can definitely feel it in my lungs (and taste it) the next day if the garage door is shut and I forgot to wear the respirator.
- 3y ago
- toomuchtodo 3y agoA friend is in the countertop business in Florida. We just transitioned his shop to primarily rely on refurbed FANUC robotics performing the heavy lifting and cutting ops to prevent these health hazards (as he’s the one doing the cutting). Work areas are operated in lazy negative pressure with work atmosphere filtered prior to exhaust out of the building. Regulation is the only way to prevent labor from being treated as disposable by these businesses, regardless of the status of these workers.
- bagels 3y agoI wish it was more specific about the materials.
- pixl97 3y agoAnything that contains silica... which includes concrete, practically anything stone based. This has nothing to do with this material being particularly dangerous above and beyond what is expected with any material cutting. You should not be cutting anything at the industrial scale without proper PPE.
- mhb 3y agoThe materials are a second order effect. Undoubtedly breathing granite, soapstone or whatever dust isn't good for you either. Maybe it just takes longer to kill you.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- bafe 3y agoIsn't soapstone closely related to asbestos? I'd expect it to produce the same type of powder that makes asbestos so dangerous (and on top of silicosis it can give you mesothelioma)
- mjh2539 3y agoSoapstone is primarily composed of talc. Talc deposits sometimes have asbestos minerals included in them. Pretty much any aerosolized mineral is going to wreak havoc on your lungs.
- bafe 3y agoTrue, but it seems asbestos because of the particular shape of the fiber is particularly nasty and more likely to cause mesothelioma
- bagels 3y ago