The kitchen trend killing Tradies - silica dust is the new asbestos

ANTHONY White should be in the prime of his life.

But instead, the 36-year-old is battling a debilitating and incurable
disease which has nearly taken his life. Late last year, the Gold Coast
stonemason developed a chest infection which wouldn’t clear up and he
quickly lost a lot of weight.

His concerned mum told him to see a doctor, and in November he was given the
shocking news — he had been struck down by silicosis.
The progressive, irreversible lung disease is caused by long-term exposure
to silica dust, which is created when artificial or engineered stone is cut.
It can take up to 15 years to develop, and symptoms can include shortness of
breath, cough, fever, cyanosis (bluish skin) and frequent chest infections,
which can eventually lead to lung transplants and even death.

Mr White recently developed a viral infection as a result of the disease
which saw him rushed to intensive care.

Anthony’s case isn’t a one-off, there are going to be many young men
affected like this and his condition. Mr White handled and cut artificial
stone products for a decade before falling ill.

“Wearing protective gear wasn’t policed at any of my workplaces. There was
so much dust flying around, you could feel the grit on your teeth and taste
the dust in your mouth, but I didn’t think it was a problem. I had no idea
it could make you this sick.

I would personally like to see rules enforced so nobody cuts it dry in any
workplace anywhere in Australia. It’s dangerous and it’s putting lives at
risk.”

Mr White’s message is all the more urgent because, while silicosis deaths
are dropping globally, there has been an alarming spike in cases among
Aussie tradies believed to be linked to cutting engineered or artificial
stone products used to make kitchen benchtops.

The toxic dust has been dubbed “the new asbestos”, and a 2017 Queensland
Parliamentary inquiry into Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis (Black Lung) was
told silica was “more dangerous than coalmine dust”.

The current method of dry cutting artificial stone creates plumes of dust
which if inhaled over long periods can potentially lead to silicosis. We
know wet cutting, using water to damp down the dust, is much safer but there
is no regulation of the industry to enforce this practise. Wet cutting
systems and enforcement of proper face masks that could prevent disease are
not being installed. Stonemasons are urged to see a doctor for a health
check and lung scan.

-Article provided by DPTI. For further WHS Information please visit their website
<https://dpti.sa.gov.au/safety_in_construction/_nocache> Safety in
Construction

Asbestos danger for home renovators highlighted, as 'third wave' of deaths appears

"A number of people have predicted this would happen, a number of experts, and it is now happening, we're seeing the third wave, so-called, of people who are presenting with asbestos-related cancers," chairman of the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency Geoff Fary told 891 ABC Adelaide.

"The first wave were those people who worked in the mining and the processing of the substance, the second wave were those people whose jobs put them in regular contact with asbestos, be they electrician or linesman or people who worked changing wheels or brakes of cars.

"But we're now finding the third wave [who] have had no known occupational exposure to airborne asbestos."

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