{"id":20720,"date":"2019-10-07T10:07:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T18:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/lawmakers-seek-protections-for-workers-against-lung-damage-tied-to-making-countertops\/"},"modified":"2019-10-07T10:07:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T18:07:00","slug":"lawmakers-seek-protections-for-workers-against-lung-damage-tied-to-making-countertops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/lawmakers-seek-protections-for-workers-against-lung-damage-tied-to-making-countertops\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers Seek Protections For Workers Against Lung Damage Tied To Making Countertops"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nell Greenfieldboyce<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n A colored X-ray of the lungs of a patient with silicosis, a type of pneumoconiosis. The yellow grainy masses in the lungs are areas of scarred tissue and inflammation.<\/p>\n

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CNRI\/Science Photo Library\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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CNRI\/Science Photo Library\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Lawmakers in Congress are calling on the Department of Labor to do more to protect workers who may be unsafely<\/a> cutting “engineered stone” used for countertops.<\/p>\n

The material contains high levels of the mineral silica, and breathing in silica dust is dangerous. While silica is found in natural stones, like granite, engineered stone made of quartz can be more than 90% silica.<\/p>\n

This type of artificial stone has become increasingly popular among Americans for kitchen and bathroom countertops in recent years.<\/p>\n

Even though adequate dust control can completely eliminate the risk of silica-related disease, at least 18 workers in California, Colorado, Texas and Washington who cut slabs of this material to order have recently suffered severe lung damage, according<\/a> to physicians and public health officials.<\/p>\n

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Two of the workers died of their silicosis<\/a>, a lung disease that can be progressive and has no treatment except for lung transplant. That has occupational safety experts worried about the nearly 100,000 people who work in this industry.<\/p>\n

And it’s gotten the attention of the House Committee on Education and Labor<\/a>. Its chairman, Bobby Scott<\/a>, and Alma Adams<\/a>, who chairs a subcommittee on workforce protections, have now written to Labor Department Secretary Eugene Scalia.<\/p>\n