"A new California law aims to protect workers from silicosis, an incurable lung disease that has killed 29 people in the state and sickened hundreds. Experts say it isn’t enough."
"For more than 15 years, Oscar worked nearly seven days a week in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, cutting and polishing stone countertops for kitchens and bathrooms. He didn’t know the engineered stone he was fabricating was rapidly killing him.
At the age of 45, Oscar began to have difficulty breathing. He felt extremely tired and weak, unable to lift the stone slabs he once carried with ease.
“My lungs couldn’t take it anymore,” Oscar said in Spanish. “They were already collapsing.”
Oscar spoke on condition that he be identified only by his first name in order to protect his privacy.
In 2022, he said he was rushed to Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with silicosis, a progressive and incurable occupational lung disease. He said he cried when the doctor delivered the news and told him he would never be able to work again."
Semantha Raquel Norris reports for Capital & Main March 13, 2026.
