8275306 Research to action: why Australia banned artificial stone

<h3></h3> Commencing on July 1st 2024, Australia became the first country in the world to prohibit the use of crystalline silica containing artificial stone. Following its introduction in the early 2000s, artificial stone rapidly became the predominant material used to fabricate domestic kitchen and bathroom benchtops in Australia. In 2015, the first Australian stone benchtop worker was reported with silicosis and subsequently extensive workplace, laboratory and epidemiological research has been undertaken in Australia. Workplace studies demonstrated that workers have commonly been exposed to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) far exceeding the regulated exposure standard, both when dry tasks were performed and when water-fed tools were in operation. Even following five years of regulatory compliance activities, over half of workshops investigated recorded one or more worker exposed to RCS above the regulated limit. Experimental studies have demonstrated cutting artificial stone generates high concentrations of very fine particles (&lt; 1 µm) with &gt; 80% respirable crystalline silica content, in the form of quartz and cristobalite. Outcomes from protocolised screening of 544 benchtop workers in Victoria found 117 with silicosis including 21 with progressive massive fibrosis. All were male, with a median age of 42 years and a 12-year median duration of work in the stone benchtop industry. The study also found a high proportion of workers were migrants, including 33% from Asian countries. Compared to CT imaging and respiratory physician diagnosis of silicosis, the sensitivity of spirometric parameters below the lower limit of normal as an indicator of silicosis was very low and chest x-ray with an ILO profusion category ≥1 was modest. Research into many aspects of the stone benchtop industry has been essential to provide an evidence-base leading to the decision by Australian Governments to ban artificial stone with aim of preventing further workers contracting silicosis.