[legitster]

The exposure to silica comes from cutting and grinding - and there is probably more exposure to cutting and grinding from natural stone (first at the quarry and second in production).

I think the important distinction is that with natural stone, much more is cut to fit from the factory (which is easier to handle dust) vs cut on site.

[newaccount74]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that nobody tries to cut granite on site with an angle grinder. It's so difficult because the material is so hard.

Granite countertops are typically cut off-site with a waterjet, which creates zero dust.

[caf]

This I suspect nails the question of "why doesn't natural silica-containing stone cause the same problems?" asked several times elsethread.

[rbanffy]

I wonder why those parts are not made in the desired shape already with no need to cut or sand in place.

[xxs]

No perfect walls (also changes w/ temperature/humidity), drilling holes, misalignment, imperfect measurements...

Since it's a luxury but not a super expensive product, the more expensive process of precise measurement, off-site waterjet/laser cutting is not suitable.

[NoGravitas]

I assume it's because kitchens and bathrooms aren't made in standardized sizes to fit standardized counters.