The co-author of a new study that predicts up to 10,000 Australians will develop lung cancer from workplace exposure to silica dust says the use of artificial stone for kitchen benchtops should be banned.
Lin Fritschi, a professor at the Curtin University School of Population, said silica dust — the most potent source of which is artificial stone — is a dangerous product and banning it would save the lives of construction workers.
“This is a terrible disease," Ms Fritschi told ABC Radio Perth host Nadia Mitsopoulos.
"It's a fast-moving scarring of the lungs that eventually leads to death. There's no cure.”
Ms Fritschi and her colleagues at Curtin University used modelling to predict future cases based on the current level of workplace exposure to silica. The harmful dust is found in many building products including sand, soil, stone, concrete, bricks, glass and mortar.
The study is yet to be peer-reviewed.
"Our modelling predicts more than 10,000 Australians will develop lung cancer and up to 103,000 workers will be diagnosed with silicosis," the study's lead researcher Renee Carey said.
Almost 500 Australians are living with silicosis, and almost all were diagnosed within the past three years and linked to stonemasonry, according to a report by the National Dust Disease Taskforce.
Clinicians and unions recently said the number of cases currently in the community was likely to be much higher because many workers were yet to be diagnosed.
Rising cases linked to popularity of stone
According to the taskforce report, the significant rise in case numbers since 2018 has occurred in tandem with a resurgence in the popularity of engineered stone for kitchen benchtops.
In 2020, a Perth father became the first person in Western Australia to launch legal action over silicosis. He sued the four companies he had worked for over lost income, pain and suffering, and future medical expenses.
More recently, workers in various industries have called on the new Labor government to "urgently" introduce tougher national regulations to reduce the harm associated with working with silica dust.
In its final report, the National Dust Disease Taskforce recommended starting the process to ban importation of "some or all" engineered stone products by July, 2024.
Ms Fritschi said the ban should instead be implemented by 2024, rather than starting the process to ban it at that time.
If a ban was put into effect, the Curtin research estimated almost 100 lung cancers and 1,000 silicosis cases could be prevented.
Calls for regulation
Consistent use of high-quality respiratory protection was one key method of managing the risk, Ms Fritschi said.
Experts have already been calling for Safe Work Australia to reduce the maximum allowable dust exposure limit, and for local and state governments to enact laws that better protect workers.
The National Dust Disease Taskforce report made a series of other recommendations.
Key recommendations included providing better support for affected workers, more frequent screening assessments and the creation of a national governance system and register of cases.
Federal Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke told the ABC last month the government "holds issues of workplace safety very close to its heart".
"In opposition, I met with people who had contracted silicosis at work — the current standards had clearly failed them," Mr Burke said.
"I'll have more to say later, but this is an issue I'll be pursuing with my state counterparts."
Curtin University said its modelling involves computer simulation and mathematical models using existing "real-world" measurements.
