DOCTORS warn rising numbers of British men are getting a rare new type of lung disease from working with fake marble and granite.
Medics have reported the UK’s first death and 11 cases of artificial stone silicosis, with patients’ average age just 34.
They develop hard-to-treat scarring and injuries in the lungs from inhaling dust while working with material containing large amounts of silica.
Experts have called for a ban on quartz kitchens and bathrooms to ward off an asbestos-style lung disease epidemic in craftsmen.
Leigh Day solicitors said they are taking on lawsuits from men as young as their 20s who have developed the illness.
Study author Dr Johanna Feary, lung disease expert at the Royal Brompton NHS trust in London, said: “The emergence of these cases is of real concern.
“It is affecting young men, many of whom have only worked with this material for a few years.
“There is no good treatment and a diagnosis can be devastating.
“The UK needs to learn from the experience in other countries and to act quickly to minimise the number of deaths in the months and years to come.”
High-silica artificial stone, also known as engineered stone or quartz, is already banned in Australia.
It is popular in kitchen and bathroom renovation because it can be made to look like marble or granite but is much cheaper.
Britain has legal silica dust exposure limits but they are hard to enforce and often exceeded, researchers said.
We may be on the threshold of a significant increase in cases
Ewan Tant
The new study reported the first eight cases of silicosis in men aged between 27 and 56.
One of the patients has died and two now need lung transplants, while three have immune system damage from the illness.
Doctors said the disease appears to keep getting worse even after men stopped breathing the dust.
This makes it similar to the incurable diseases asbestosis and mesothelioma that have developed in thousands of labourers who worked with asbestos in the 1900s.
Ewan Tant, partner at Leigh Day, said: “We may be on the threshold of a significant increase in cases of silicosis related to engineered stone that will only continue to get worse.”
SILICOSIS is a serious lung disease that involves scarring and swelling inside the breathing tubes.
It is caused by regularly inhaling silica dust over years or decades.
Silica is a mineral made up of the elements silicon and oxygen and it is found under the ground in the form of quartz crystals, rocks and sand.
It is mined for use as gemstones or in masonry, electronics and pottery.
Cutting and working with silica can produce a lot of dust, which is harmful if breathed in.
The dust is made of hard silica crystals that damage the delicate lining of the lungs, causing swelling and scarring that build up over time.
As swelling and scarring get worse, they destroy parts of the lungs that soak up oxygen and reduce the organs’ function.
Symptoms may take years to develop but include a long-term cough, shortness of breath and weakness and tiredness.
The condition gets worse over time and may increase the risk of chest infections, high blood pressure, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.
There is no cure for the illness because lung damage cannot be reversed, so doctors focus on treating the symptoms and improving oxygen flow.
Source: NHS
