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by atdrummond 1044 days ago
One of the sad things about the massive increase in popularity of engineered quartz countertops has been the massive increase in 20-something year olds getting silicosis and needing lung transplants.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7810008/

1 comments

Just to be clear about your source for other readers. It discusses the workers who produce these counter tops versus people merely having them in the home (what I originally inferred with your comment), it says the mean age of onset was 43 years old, and that 79% of the workers with silicosis did not use personal protective equipment.
I’m pretty certain the studies are lagging indicators with regards to the age of incidence; the jobs have seen a significant shift in the ages of employees as more of the work is now done by immigrant/second gen labor than in years prior. A family on my street in Palo Alto had three sons diagnosed with silicosis by 25.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/24/1189745...