The cost-of-living crisis hasn’t dented the popularity of home renovations, but it has changed the type of work that’s being done. When it comes to kitchens, this means reining in plans for elaborate kitchen islands and marble sinks, and getting as much bang for your buck as possible.
Cost-conscious kitchen planners will likely have heard of artificial worktops, made from stone aggregate. But with a ban coming into effect in Australia, many experts are now calling for a similar ban in the UK. So what are artificial worktops exactly, why are they so dangerous—and is a complete ban on artificial worktops really justified?
What are artificial stone worktops?
Sometimes known as engineered stone worktops, artificial stone worktops have been growing in popularity for some years now. Where a traditional worktop would be made entirely from a single piece of stone, such as marble or granite, an artificial worktop involves the use of a man-made composite. This will usually involve crushing small rocks, then binding them with a resin and dyeing them to more closely resemble a real stone worktop.
This process is naturally cheaper, as the materials are much easier to source and work with than a single large slab of stone. They also aren’t materially worse as worktops than traditional stone worktops. On the contrary, composite worktops can be more damage resistant than traditional worktops, and require less care and maintenance, with no need to seal them on an annual basis.
Crucially, artificial stone worktops are also cheaper than traditional stone worktops, though still more expensive than wood or laminate in most cases. This combination of being stronger and more durable than stone while looking extremely similar has made them highly popular, and a go-to choice for many kitchen renovations.
The problem with artificial stone worktops
The issue with artificial worktops comes not necessarily in the home, but in how they are manufactured and fitted. The rocks typically used to make artificial stone worktops often have a high concentration of silica, which releases large amounts of particulate matter when damaged. The cutting of these worktops to size can thus expose workers to a high concentration of silica dust.
Silica dust is extremely dangerous for many of the same reasons as asbestos. While not quite as destructive, silica particles are extremely jagged, meaning that they cause damage to the cells in our lungs when breathed in. Excessive exposure to silica dust can cause serious and debilitating lung conditions, including silicosis, a condition that was informally referred to by miners as ‘black lung’.
Silicosis is incurable, and life expectancy among highly-exposed individuals is around 40. A similar problem exists among workers using concrete, which also often releases high levels of silica dust. However, the dangers of silica dust in concrete are slightly better appreciated, and concrete tends to be mixed outdoors, whereas artificial stone worktops may be cut indoors.
Why experts want to ban artificial stone worktops
Health experts believe that artificial worktops should be banned on account of the excessive danger they pose. Artificial stone has an extremely high concentration of silica, the inhalation of which causes deadly and incurable lung diseases. For Australia, the problem had echoes of a substance that both it and the UK have suffered from greatly: asbestos.
Unlike asbestos, there may also be a general lack of awareness of the dangers of inhaling silica dust, which can be similarly dangerous. In other cases, non-compliance may simply be due to cost or time pressures, putting workers at deliberate risk. As a result, the likelihood of silica dust exposure is thought to be particularly high.
A recent U.S. study found that cases of silicosis in Californian stonemasons quadrupled between 2018 and 2022, rising from five to 20. Data from across the United States meanwhile suggests that as many as 15 to 20% of people working in the industry currently have or will develop silicosis. The data was compelling enough to drive state regulators to draft emergency protections, and for LA County to consider its own ban.
Banning artificial stone worktops would invariably save lives, even if some continued to be made surreptitiously. A ban on artificial stone would only remove one kind of worktop, with the less harmful laminate worktops still offering a cheap alternative to real stone. It may also be the case that a safer cheap alternative arrives to fill the space left by artificial stone worktops.
Should artificial stone worktops be banned?
The counter argument is that artificial stone can be worked safely under the right conditions. Safely working with artificial stone requires a heavy duty dust extraction system and respiratory protective equipment (RPE), which should not be beyond any medium or large-scale industrial operation that would be producing these worktops.
The issue is whether these costs are deemed to be beyond smaller contractors, and out of step with the way artificial stone is usually worked. Worktops are routinely cut to size on site, and DIY enthusiasts can also currently buy artificial stone worktops to cut themselves. In this case, it isn’t reasonable to expect that the average person will or should have the protections necessary to safely work with artificial stone.
There is also the consideration of who is likely to be affected. Many contractors may be temporary or migrant workers who are not aware of the dangers, or feel unable to turn this dangerous work down, either because of finances or because they are being exploited. A ban would protect these people far more than a safety campaign, which would likely be ignored by their employers.
A compromise might be to only permit the sale of artificial stone to licensed contractors. However, this would still not guarantee that the worktops would be safely dealt with, nor would it necessarily prevent them from making it onto the open market. Enforcement may ultimately be difficult, both due to the worktops having the appearance of real stone, and the difficulty in effectively policing thousands of small, quick installations.
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The biggest argument for banning artificial stone is invariably the negative health impacts they can have. Like asbestos, the manufacturing and alteration of artificial stone worktops can have deadly consequences. Unlike asbestos, however, there is less chance of damage, and less danger from any dust that incidental damage might release.
This isn’t to say that artificial stone isn’t dangerous, however. While a ban may be a negative from a consumer standpoint, it will save lives. The question is whether a safety campaign on the substance and the dangers of silica dust exposure can ever be successful enough to eliminate the dangers—and prevent a repeat of the disastrous legacy of asbestos.