First British cases of worktop workers with incurable lung disease

The first UK cases of workers who cut and finish artificial stone worktops developing an incurable lung disease have been reported.

A review of the first eight cases of silicosis due to artificial stone in the UK found that one patient died and others are waiting for assessment for a lung transplant, according to a new paper in the journal Thorax.

While cases of silicosis among worktop manufacturers have been reported from countries around the world since 2010, this is the first time the UK has seen worktop tradespeople with the condition. The paper’s lead author warns there are likely to be many more similar cases as yet unreported.

All eight patients highlighted in the paper were seen by experts in occupational lung disease at Royal Brompton Hospital, a specialist centre for respiratory diseases and part of Guy’s and St Thomas’. All were men, with an average age of 34 years old, and at least one had only four years’ exposure before developing the disease after inhaling the dust from cutting the artificial stone worktops.

All the men worked for small companies and reported dry-cutting and polishing these worktops without adequate respiratory protection, exposing them to high amounts of silica dust.

Silicosis is an irreversible interstitial (scarring) lung disease causing progressive respiratory failure. In the UK, around 600,000 people are exposed to silica and at risk of developing silicosis. There are limited treatments available for people who develop the disease and there is no cure.

Worktops made of artificial stone – often referred to as quartz or engineered stone – have become an increasingly popular choice for domestic kitchens due to their resilience and range of colours and styles. They are made of crushed rocks, bound in resin. If, in the manufacturing process dry-cutting is carried out, this will create very fine crystalline silica dust which can be inhaled, and can cause silicosis.

Artificial stone contains over 90% silica. This property, in combination with the dry cutting process means those working with artificial stone and who breathe in high levels of dust appear to develop silicosis much faster. As a result, this variant of the disease affects a much younger group of workers than cases of silicosis due to exposure to natural stone dusts.

Dr Johanna Feary, honorary consultant in occupational lung disease at Royal Brompton Hospital, is lead author of the Thorax paper. She calls for greater awareness of the disease to help earlier detection.

Dr Feary said: “Silicosis is a devastating and deadly disease for which we have no cure. The first cases of it resulting from artificial stone manufacturing we have seen at Royal Brompton have all been in young, otherwise fit men who became very ill, very quickly.

“We anticipate there are many more people out there with this type of silicosis and we would urgently call for greater awareness of this disease, further research to determine the scale of the problem and for enforcement of regulations to try and prevent a large number of cases occurring in the UK as seen elsewhere in the world.”