Finding of Emergency Section 5204 , Occupational Exposures to Respirable Crystalline Silica Business Meeting : December 14 , 2023 Page 11 of 36
harmful to the lungs than other shapes ), compared to reference quartz . 39 Artificial stone particles contained higher levels of metal transition ions ( primarily iron , copper and titanium ), which could explain the higher reactivity of artificial stone RCS . Dry cutting of artificial stone produced carboxyl radicals in dusts that were up to 10 times more reactive than the dust produced from dry cutting reference quartz ; wet processing suppressed this activity .
11 ) There is evidence of widespread non-compliance with title 8 standards in the artificial stone fabrication industry .
In January 2019 , Cal / OSHA initiated a Special Emphasis Program ( SEP ) in the artificial stone fabrication industry to enforce compliance with CCR title 8 , section 5204 , Occupational Exposures to Respirable Crystalline Silica . 40 Cal / OSHA identified 281 active artificial stone fabrication sites ; of these , Cal / OSHA opened inspections at 106 sites ( 38 %) and conducted personal air sampling of workers at 47 sites ( 44 %). A CDPH analysis of Cal / OSHA ’ s findings for 152 employees at these 47 sites showed “ widespread RCS overexposure among workers and numerous Cal / OSHA standard violation citations :” 41
• 34 of 47 ( 72 %) workplaces were cited for one or more violation ( s ) of the silica standard , section 5204 .
• 27 workplaces ( 57 %) were cited for one or more violations of the respiratory protection standard , section 5144 .
• 24 workplaces ( 51 %) had one or more exposures above the permissible exposure limit ( PEL ).
• 7 workplaces ( 15 %) had one or more exposures between the action level ( AL ) and PEL . Among results for individual workers :
• 38 of 152 workers ( 25 %) had exposures well above the PEL of 50 μg / m 3 ( median = 90 μg / m 3 ; range = 50 – 670 μg / m 3 ).
• 17 workers ( 11 %) had exposures between the AL of 25 μg / m 3 and the PEL .
39
Pavan C , et al . Abrasion of Artificial Stones as a New Cause of an Ancient Disease . Physicochemical Features and Cellular Responses . Toxicological Sciences . ( 2016 ) 153 ( 1 ), 4 – 17 . https :// academic . oup . com / toxsci / article / 153 / 1 / 4 / 2223603 ? login = false . Accessed August 16 , 2023 .
40
California Division of Occupational Safety and Health ( Cal / OSHA ). Special emphasis program — occupational exposure to Respirable crystalline silica cut stone and stone product manufacturing . https :// www . dir . ca . gov / DOSHPol / DOSH-PP-SEP-on-Silica . pdf . Accessed April 27 , 2023 .
41
Surasi K , et al . Elevated exposures to respirable crystalline silica among engineered stone fabrication workers in California , January 2019 – February 2020 . Am J Ind Med . 2022 ; 65:701‐707 . https :// pubmed . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov / 35899403 /. Accessed April 24 , 2023 .