The Evolving Landscape Of Kitchen Countertop Silicosis Litigation In The U.S.

Silicosis cases are making a comeback in toxic tort litigation. Engineered quartz stone is designed with over 90% crystalline silica content¹, and just ask your neighbor with the new house-it is very popular. Between 2010 and 2018, U.S. imports of engineered stone slabs increased by 800%.²

The re-emergence of silicosis cases can be traced back to California. In California alone, more than 170 confirmed silicosis cases among countertop fabricators have been identified since 2021, with at least 50 active lawsuits.³ Recently, the California Department of Public Health found that at least 37% of the confirmed silicosis cases identified through electronic case reporting from health care facilities were associated with the fabrication of engineered stone countertops.⁴

In 2024, a jury in Los Angeles awarded $52.4 million dollars in damages in the Gustavo Reyes-Gonzalez case.⁵ The plaintiffs in these cases typically allege that the process of cutting, grinding, and polishing the engineered stone creates hazardous silica dust. The jury in the Reyes-Gonzalez case found several engineered-stone companies liable for negligence and failure to warn claims. Naturally, such a verdict has increased awareness of potential liability in the engineered quartz supply chain.

When will this litigation come to your State? Good question. In Louisiana, silica cases have historically been related to the sandblasting industry. The cases have involved work in industrial environments, not countertop fabrication. But as you can see from the case above, the environment in a silica case has changed a bit. Dozens of new lawsuits have been filed in California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Texas and elsewhere in the last year.

Finally, be on the lookout for a new disease: silicosarcoidosis.⁶ A June 2025 study in The American Journal of Industrial Medicine⁷ identified this disease among stone fabrication workers-a disease combining features of silicosis and sarcoidosis, allegedly tied to high silica exposure.

Footnotes

1. https://www.gatech.edu/news/2025/07/28/scientists-pinpoint-hazards-engineered-stone-fabrication-shop-workers#:~:text=A%20%E2%80%9CToxic%20Product%E2%80%9D&text=Engineered%20stone%2C%20however%2C%20can%20contain,fail%20and%20have%20backup%20measures.%E2%80%9D

2. Id.

3. https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/product-liability-safety/1541476/silicosis-a-monolith-on-the-legal-plain#:~:text=Tracking%20the%20occurrence%20of%20silicosis,in%20Washington%2C%20Oregon%20and%20Colorado.

4. https://www.cdc.gov/ecr/php/stories/overlooked-cases-of-silicosis-among-workers.html

5. https://publichealthwatch.org/2024/08/08/jury-awards-52-4m-in-case-against-artificial-stone-countertop-makers/

6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40280597/

7. https://www.physiciansweekly.com/post/experts-coin-silicosarcoidosis-for-silica%E2%80%91linked-granulomatous-lung-disease

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