'My Lungs Had Nothing Left': Inside the Epidemic Killing Countertop Stonecutters

[Omaha Steve]

https://prospect.org/2026/03/17/epidemic-killing-countertop-stonecutters-engineered-stone/

A new California law aims to protect workers from silicosis, an incurable lung disease that has killed 29 people in the state and sickened hundreds. Experts say it isn’t enough.

by Semantha Raquel Norris March 17, 2026

This article was produced by Capital & Main, an award-winning publication that reports from California on economic, political, and social issues. It is co-published here with permission.

Photos by Semantha Raquel Norris

For more than 15 years, Oscar worked nearly seven days a week in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, cutting and polishing stone countertops for kitchens and bathrooms. He didn’t know the engineered stone he was fabricating was rapidly killing him.

At the age of 45, Oscar began to have difficulty breathing. He felt extremely tired and weak, unable to lift the stone slabs he once carried with ease.

“My lungs couldn’t take it anymore,” Oscar said in Spanish. “They were already collapsing.”

Oscar spoke on condition that he be identified only by his first name in order to protect his privacy.

FULL story at link above.


After receiving a double lung transplant, Oscar’s chest and torso are marked by scars.

[underpants]

1. Wow. I'd never thought of that.

In 2022, he said he was rushed to Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with silicosis, a progressive and incurable occupational lung disease. He said he cried when the doctor delivered the news and told him he would never be able to work again.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. The dangers of silicosis from rock dust have been known for DECADES.

In third place, we have the Hawks Nest Tunnel in West Virginia, a 3-mile-long mountain tunnel built in 1931. At least 764 workers died within five years of the tunnel's completion, primarily from breathing silica dust (silicosis). Some estimates put the death toll over 2,000. Even if we go with a lower number, that's a death rate of 152.8 per thousand workers.

Hawks Nest Tunnel may be the world's deadliest construction project if you want to be a purist. Its victims did not suffer from inhumane brutality or mosquito-borne disease. Their deaths were a direct result of their work.

https://www.360training.com/blog/worlds-deadliest-construction-projects

[underpants]

4. Hawks Nest

I drive by it a lot going to see family near Huntington multiple times. That was a drive. We didn’t have money then.

My mother took my daughter to Hawks Nest….abd the Greenbrier….and NYC (American Girl store) …and….

My running joke is “Gee….sounds great 🙄”

[Clouds Passing]

2. I feel for them, their suffering must be intense 😥