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Urgent action needed as popular kitchen worktop material linked with fatal lung condition

MEDICS have called for urgent action to protect workers who cut artificial stone amid growing fears of another “asbestos-type health catastrophe.”

The government has been urged to consider banning the popular kitchen worktop material after a scientific paper documented a steep rise in an incurable lung condition linked to its manufacture.

Kitchen worktops made from artificial stone are cheaper than natural stone, such as granite or marble, but contain significantly more silica, which is released into the air when the material is cut.

The all-parliamentary group for respiratory health has called for a reduction in the work exposure limits to silica so “we shouldn’t have to wait until thousands are suffering from this life impacting deadly disease before the UK takes preventative action,” she added.

“Without urgent action we are in danger of sleepwalking into another asbestos-type health catastrophe.”

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