California Moves Toward Emergency Ban on Quartz Countertops Containing Crystalline Silica
The state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is set to vote on an emergency regulation that would prohibit quartz countertop products with more than 1% crystalline silica, following a rise in silicosis cases among workers.
California regulators are preparing an emergency ban on manufactured stone that contains more than 1 percent crystalline silica, with a vote expected in October. The measure, driven by a petition from the Western Occupational and Environmental Medicine Association, aims to curb a surge in silicosis cases among workers who cut and fabricate quartz countertops.
State health data show that between January 2019 and June 2026, 592 quartz-fabrication workers were diagnosed with silicosis, a progressive lung disease caused by inhaling fine silica particles. Of those, 65 required lung transplants and 31 have died, according to the California Department of Public Health.
"The standards board’s decision reflects the urgent need to protect workers from a product that has proven uniquely hazardous," said Denisse Gómez, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Industrial Relations.
If adopted, the regulation would require manufacturers to replace quartz products that exceed the silica threshold with safer alternatives, a step Cal-OSHA and the Department of Industrial Relations say is needed after existing safety rules failed to prevent the illnesses.