Doctors call for ban on cutting artificial stone after reporting first UK cases of silicosis

Experts have called on the UK government to follow Australia’s lead in banning artificial stone worktops, after the first UK cases of silicosis linked to their manufacture were reported.

Since 2010, cases of silicosis due to artificial stone have been reported from Israel, Spain, Italy, the US, China, Australia, and Belgium. Although artificial stone has been used in the UK for a similar length of time the country reported no cases until mid-2023, when eight men were referred to the occupational lung disease department at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.

A case series report published in the journal Thorax1 says that the eight men had a median age of 34 (range 27 to 56) and had been dry cutting and polishing artificial stone worktops (also called countertops) with inadequate safety measures. Most of the men were migrant workers and were vulnerable to exploitation in the workplace, the study authors reported, and all worked for small companies with fewer than 10 employees.

The average time of exposure to stone dust was 12.5 …