It’s the countertop that took over American kitchens over the past two decades: engineered stone, usually sold as quartz. Now the country’s largest doctors’ group wants it off the market, and California regulators could act within weeks. Here’s what’s behind the push, and what it means if you already have one.
In short
- The American Medical Association has adopted a policy opposing the manufacture, import, sale, fabrication and installation of high-silica engineered stone.
- The danger is silica dust breathed in by the workers who cut and polish the slabs. More than 680 California stoneworkers have been diagnosed with silicosis.
- LAist describes the material as safe for consumers once it is installed: the risk is the dust created when slabs are cut and polished.
- A California workplace board is expected to vote next month on an emergency rule to phase out engineered stone with more than 1% crystalline silica.
What the doctors decided
According to LAist and KQED, the American Medical Association, which counts more than 250,000 physicians and medical students, now opposes high-silica engineered stone across the United States, from manufacturing and imports to sale, fabrication and installation. In practice, that amounts to backing a near-complete ban on the most popular countertop material in the country.
It is a policy position, not a law. But it carries weight. “Silicosis is preventable,” said AMA board member Sheila Rege. Dr. Robert Blink, an occupational medicine physician, called it “recognition by the larger house of medicine that the material cannot be safely used.”
Why the stone is a problem
Engineered stone is rich in crystalline silica. When workers cut or polish it, they can inhale fine silica dust, which scars the lungs and causes silicosis, an incurable disease.
California has been hit hardest. LAist reports that more than 680 stoneworkers in the state have contracted silicosis, dozens have died and 75 have had lung transplants since 2019, according to the California Department of Public Health. Cal/OSHA projects that 1,000 to 1,500 California stoneworkers could develop the disease within a decade, leading to about 285 deaths. OHS Online adds that Latino men account for roughly 98% of the state’s diagnoses linked to stone fabrication, and that the average age of workers who died was under 50.
What California could do next
In May, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted unanimously to start the process of banning artificial stone products containing more than 1% crystalline silica, after a petition from occupational medicine doctors. As Capital & Main reported in the Times of San Diego, Cal/OSHA would draft an emergency standard barring workers from cutting or installing the material for one year while permanent rules are written. The agency regulates workplaces, so it cannot ban sales or imports on its own.
The industry is pushing back. “Banning the product to compensate for failed enforcement is irresponsible,” said Matt Thurston of Cosentino North America. The International Surface Fabricators Association wants licensing and compliance rules for shops instead. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that the prospect of a ban is already pushing retailers and contractors toward alternatives. Australia banned engineered stone slabs in 2024.
The limit
Nothing here means a quartz countertop already in your kitchen is a health risk. The sources describe a workplace hazard, and LAist calls the material safe for consumers once installed. The AMA policy is not binding, and California’s rule has not been voted yet: its scope and timing could still change.
If you’re planning a remodel, though, the material and the shop that cuts it are now part of the decision. For more on how kitchens are changing, see what designers are installing instead of the island, why countertops are being cleared of appliances and an all-white kitchen transformed with one paint color.
That’s the story.
