Engineered stone will be banned in Australia in world-first decision
Engineered stone will be banned in Australia in world-first decision
www.abc.net.au
Engineered stone will be banned in Australia in world-first decision
24 comments
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What are the replacement materials?
I presume that laminated/coated MDF isn't the same market segment as heavy, dense engineered stones. Perhaps they'll go solid epoxy with no silica filler? That would be more expensive but probably work. I suspect they'll still want cheap fillers however, so non-silica stones might be chosen (but surely most stone dusts are bad?).
EDIT: Oh dear https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-05/study-finds-safety-concerns-in-engineered-stone-alternatives/103185450
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Silicosis can come from a wide variety of sources, basically anything where stone dust occurs can produce it, even natural stone countertop manufacturing has long been known to be dangerous in that regard.
This whole ban feels more like populism than addressing the real problems. Engineered stone has become a popular material, lots of people have worked with it with insufficient safety precautions and now there's a number of people permanently disabled by it.
Simply banning engineered stone won't solve that problem, since it will now just happen with other materials.-
You wouldn't generally get all federal and state governments signing on to something that is just 'populism'.
Engineered stone is more dangerous than natural stone because it contains much more silica, and so it has resulted in an acute accelerated form of silicosis: https://www.medicalrepublic.com.au/why-silicosis-is-on-the-rise-and-what-to-do-about-it/24559
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yeah the real issue they need to come down hard on is disregard for oh&s in the building industry, poor education and worker exploitation. I expect this to happen around the same time my grandmother's pig sprouts wings and takes flight.
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Laminated / coated mdf is shit and it looses its colour in kitchen environments pretty quickly and stains are impossible to remove
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What are the replacement materials?
Laminated chipboard/MDF or natural stone mainly, depending on how expensive ones tastes and budget are. Still wouldn't want to be breathing dust from either of those though...
As another comment suggests stainless steel is another option, or perhaps even expoxied timber/bamboo. These do suffer from aesthetic and durability issues respectively though when it comes to trying to convince people to use them.
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Laminated wood products suck for countertops. If the sealing isn't completely perfect and water is ever allowed to sit on a joint, the fibers will swell and you get a bump that progresses to a crumbly mess. The damage is not repairable without replacement either.
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N.B. Porcelain is a silicate. Clay dust exposure is one of the traditional causes of silicosis, potters are (mostly) taught to clean their workplaces with hoses not brooms.
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There’s the acrylic polymer/stone blend like Corian. Though that might be the $$$ option.
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It was my understanding that silicosis can be prevented with proper adherence to safety standards and use of PPE. Is a flat out ban really necessary?
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Yes. Because tradies and their associated business owners simply can't be fucked with using - or enforcing the use of - PPE.
They're also often dicking around trimming pieces during the final installation on site where eg bulk extraction and filtering of dust is "difficult". Not "impossible" , merely difficult, and we all know difficult costs money and time.
The industry was warned and didn't do much in particular to sort themselves out, so here we are.
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Another win from the union movement 💪
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Thank fuck.
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24 comments
... someone correct me if I'm wrong, but this just sounds like some random local corruption story, right?
Like, instead of passing & enforcing worker safety laws they just ban the (safe) product? The same type of diseases can workers get from eg processing cotton, flower, cement, and any fine-dusty thing really. And such things can be managed with safety precautions & exhaust filters (to not affect the broader local area over the years of dust buildup).
The logical exceptions are things like asbestos where even the end product crumbles into dangerous particulates (that are even more irritating/cause serious problems at much lower quantities).
Then again it really saddens me that we don't invest more into like cellulose based materials (buildings, cutlery, bags, windows, cars, medical equipment, ... limitless potential, can be made sustainable, & has the prospect of doing something good in the long run).
Also with the same logic Australia could ban other things as well, like cocoa/chocolate imports, much of the fashion industry (dyes), and above all else - fossil fuels.
As for the replacement materials for countertops - bamboo (pressed & oiled?) is great!