制造商及其客户正在使用不产生粉尘云的材料，这种粉尘曾让石英切割车间的工人患病。
Manufacturers and their customers are using materials made without the clouds of dust that have sickened workers in quartz-cutting shops.
2020年，加利福尼亚州长滩的律师拉斐尔·梅茨格在翻新厨房时，选了一款米白相间、带有金色斑点的石英台面。他不想要全白的，也不想要难清洁的材质。
When Raphael Metzger, a lawyer in Long Beach, Calif., remodeled his kitchen in 2020, he selected a quartz countertop, tan and white, flecked with gold. He didn’t want anything entirely white or hard to clean.
一年后，梅茨格的律师事务所接手了一名硅肺病患者的案件，这是一种致命的肺部疾病，该患者曾在洛杉矶的一家台面加工车间工作。这成为了最早主张石英会杀死吸入切割时产生的有毒粉尘的工人的诉讼之一。
A year later, Mr. Metzger’s law office took on the case of a man with silicosis, a deadly lung disease, who had worked at a countertop fabrication shop in Los Angeles. It became one of the first lawsuits to claim that quartz kills workers who inhale a toxic dust thrown off when it is cut.
“现在我懂了，”梅茨格苦笑着说。除非在切割，否则石英台面不构成风险，所以拆除它可能很危险。“我只希望干活的工人没事。”梅茨格已代表加利福尼亚州的石材工人提起了约260起诉讼，该州公共卫生部门已确认668例与石英切割有关的硅肺病病例。尽管业界反对，且对执行这一变革的可行性存疑，该州即将禁止石英台面的生产和安装。
“Now I know,” Mr. Metzger said with a bitter laugh. A quartz countertop poses no risk unless it’s being cut, so removing it could be dangerous. “I only hope the workers who did it are OK.”Mr. Metzger has filed about 260 cases on behalf of stone workers in California, where public health authorities have identified 668 cases of silicosis tied to quartz cutting. The state is poised to ban the production and installation of quartz countertops, despite pushback from the industry and questions about the feasibility of enforcing the change.
人造石是一个不断增长的300亿美元全球产业，石英是其更受欢迎的产品之一。但随着硅肺病危害变得更加明显，行业已做出调整，美国消费者也是如此。
Engineered stone is a growing $30 billion global industry, and quartz is one of its more popular products. But as the dangers of silicosis have become more apparent, the industry has adapted, and so have American consumers.
石英常被营销为“天然石材”。事实上，石英台面是将粉碎的石英——一种由硅和氧组成的丰富天然岩石——与树脂和颜料混合，在高温下压制成板材而成的。
Quartz is often marketed as “natural stone.”In fact, quartz countertops are made by mixing pulverized quartz — an abundant natural rock made of silicon and oxygen — with resins and pigments and pressing it at high heat into slabs.
石英常被误认为是石英岩，后者是从地球开采出的天然石材，也用于制作台面。石英岩同样含有结晶二氧化硅，但因为这种岩石未被磨成粉尘并加工，所以未被证实与人造石英有相同的危险。
Quartz is often mistaken for quartzite, a natural stone, cut from the earth, that is also used for countertops. Quartzite also contains crystalline silica, but because the rock hasn’t been ground to a dust and processed, it hasn’t been linked to the same dangers as man-made quartz.
石英石在20世纪90年代成为花岗岩和大理石的低维护替代品而流行起来。凯撒斯通、科森廷和康布里亚等公司生产各种颜色和图案的石英石，并通过经销商和大型商场销售。
Quartz became popular in the 1990s as a low-maintenance alternative to granite and marble. Companies like Caesarstone, Cosentino and Cambria manufacture it in an array of colors and patterns, and sell it through dealerships and big box stores.
大约十年前，卫生官员开始警告接触二氧化硅粉尘的风险。切割石英石产生的粉尘会深入肺部，形成瘢痕组织并导致矽肺病。
About a decade ago, health officials began warning about the risks of exposure to silica dust. The plumes from cutting quartz lodge deep in the lungs, forming scar tissue and silicosis.
许多工作都涉及接触可能有害的粉尘——烘焙、建筑、木工。公共卫生专家表示，加工过的结晶二氧化硅似乎尤其致命，可能是因为颗粒非常微小。
Lots of jobs entail exposure to dust that can be dangerous — baking, construction, carpentry. Processed crystalline silica, public health experts say, appears to be particularly lethal, possibly because the particles are so tiny.
在推动禁止石英石台面方面，加州公共卫生当局表示，他们已得出结论，缺乏资源检查所有那些小型、不为人知的加工店，矽肺病病例正是在这些店中出现。
In pushing to ban quartz countertops, California’s public health authorities said they had concluded that they lacked the resources to inspect all the small, below-the-radar fabrication shops where silicosis cases have emerged.
加州职业安全与健康标准委员会下次会议将于11月举行。如果该禁令通过，对石英石销售的影响可能会很快，因为加州市场庞大，且其他州通常会效仿其产品安全标准。
California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board next meets in November. If it passes the ban, the effect on quartz sales could be quick, because of the state’s large market and because other states often follow its product safety standards.
2024年，澳大利亚禁止含有超过1%结晶二氧化硅的人造石，理由是矽肺病的风险。科森廷和凯撒斯通推广再生和低二氧化硅板材系列。宜家美国门店已转向替代材料，包括再生玻璃复合材料。
In 2024, Australia banned engineered stone containing more than 1 percent crystalline silica, citing the risk of silicosis. Cosentino and Caesarstone promote lines of recycled and low-silica slabs. IKEA’s U.S. stores have shifted to alternative materials, including recycled glass composite.
“玻璃复合材料至少使用80%的再生玻璃（其余部分由树脂和颜料组成），并有助于宜家在可行的情况下使用再生和可再生材料的目标，”一位宜家代表表示。
“Glass composite uses a minimum of 80 percent recycled glass (with the remainder made up of resins and pigments) and with that contributes to the IKEA ambition to use recycled and renewable materials, where feasible.,” an IKEA representative said.
圣菲斯普林斯台面加工和安装公司加州表面公司总裁彼得·多明格兹近年来一直在观察矽肺病病例增加和诉讼不断增多的情况。
Peter Dominguez, the president of California Surfaces, a countertop fabrication and installation company in Santa Fe Springs, has watched in recent years as silicosis cases climbed and lawsuits mounted.
该公司至少 85% 的订单是石英石。California Surfaces 主要承接新建住宅和机场、医院等商业工程。作为加州规模较大的加工厂之一，拥有 65 名员工，该公司配备了自动化设备，包括一台用流水切割板材的机械臂锯，可减少工人与粉尘的接触，多明格斯说。
At least 85 percent of the company’s orders were for quartz. California Surfaces does mostly new homes and commercial jobs like airports and hospitals. As one of the larger shops in California, with 65 employees, it has automated machinery, including a robotic saw that cuts slabs with running water, which limits contact between workers and dust, Mr. Dominguez said.
但他察觉到形势所趋，决定不再加工石英石。“这对我们有利，对员工也有利，”他说。
But he saw the way the winds were blowing and decided to stop working with quartz. “It’s good for us, good for our employees,” he said.
多明格斯已转向非晶质二氧化硅产品，其几乎具备石英石的所有特性。“如果能满足绝大多数使用者的期望，那就足够了，”他说。
Mr. Dominguez has pivoted to amorphous silica products, which have almost all the features of quartz. “If you are meeting the expectations of the vast majority of people who are using it, that’s good enough,” he said.
但要说服客户（通常是建筑商或承包商）更换项目指定的材料，难度更大。“这需要他们做大量工作，”多明格斯说，但“到了一定程度，你就会面临因禁令而无法完成项目的风险”。
It has been more difficult to persuade his customers, typically builders or contractors, to change the materials specified in their projects. “It’s a lot of work for them to make that change,” Mr. Dominguez said, but “at a certain point, you become at risk of not being able to complete your project” because of the ban.
加州职业安全委员会收到了数十份关于其拟议禁令的回复，来自公共卫生团体、企业和行业组织。许多人寻求澄清，包括含结晶二氧化硅的天然石材（如石英岩）是否也会被禁，又或是禁令仅适用于人造板材。
California’s occupational safety board received dozens of responses to its proposed ban from public health groups, businesses and industry organizations. Many sought clarifications, including whether natural stone that contains crystalline silica — like quartzite — would also be banned, or if the ban would apply only to man-made slabs.
周五，该委员会发布了修订草案，澄清禁令将适用于人造或工程石板材，并将范围从台面扩展到浴缸、壁炉和地板等表面。草案称，安装包括“除为微小适配调整所必需外，从板材上去除材料的任何改动”。
On Friday, the board posted an edited draft clarifying that the ban would apply to artificial or engineered stone slabs and extend beyond countertops to surfaces including baths, fireplaces and flooring. It said installation included “any alteration that removes material from the slab beyond that necessary for a minor fit adjustment.
代表制造商和部分加工商的国际表面加工商协会反对该禁令，并建议为加工车间建立许可制度。
The International Surface Fabricators Association, which represents manufacturers and some fabricators, opposed the ban and suggested a licensing system for fabrication shops.
Rebecca Davis O’Brien 为《纽约时报》报道劳工与劳动力事务。
Rebecca Davis O’Brien covers labor and the work force for The Times.