quartz

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Countertop Industry Seeks Legal Shield From Lawsuits

Doctors say silicosis epidemic is emerging in workers who cut quartz countertops

(Newser) - Engineered stone has remade the American kitchen, and may now be remaking the law. Makers of quartz countertops are pushing Congress for sweeping legal protection from workers' health claims, even as hundreds of stone-fabrication workers are being diagnosed with silicosis, a progressive and often fatal lung disease linked to inhaling...

Bill Would Block Sick Countertop Cutters From Suing

Proposed legislation would protect manufacturers from silicosis lawsuits, while ill workers lose recourse

(Newser) - Lawmakers in DC are weighing a bill that would shield makers of trendy quartz countertops from worker lawsuits at the very moment California regulators are considering whether to ban cutting the material altogether. At issue is quartz, a form of engineered stone and a kitchen and bath favorite that can...

Australia Is First Nation to Ban Popular, but Deadly, Stone

Nation is phasing out engineered stone, as more young workers develop silicosis

(Newser) - Australia has become the first nation to ban the use of engineered stone following years of advocacy from doctors and unions who raised the alarm on its dangers to workers, reports the Guardian . A report from watchdog group Safe Work Australia this year found that stonemasons developed silicosis, a deadly...

Stonehenge Builders Made a Smart, or Lucky, Choice
Stonehenge Builders Made
a Smart, or Lucky, Choice
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Aug 21, 2021 6:30 AM CDT

Stonehenge Builders Made a Smart, or Lucky, Choice

Stone core is 99.7% quartz, and unlikely to succumb to erosion

(Newser) - Researchers have uncovered a secret to Stonehenge's everlasting survival, thanks to a long-lost core taken from the ancient structure. Stonecutter Robert Phillips got his hands on one of the three cores taken from a cracked sarsen stone as metal rods were inserted during restoration work in the 1950s . But...

Hopeful Diamond Hunters Get Bad News

People who flocked to South African village dug up similar-looking quartz

(Newser) - As far as government announcements go, this one stung: "The tests conducted conclusively revealed that the stones discovered in the area are not diamonds." So declared an official in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, reports the BBC . The words deflated the hopes of thousands of people who'...

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