Not long ago, we had our countertop replaced (from quartz to granite). They ended up having to make a cut in it while it was sitting in our kitchen. Our home was in a cloud of dust for several hours, and when the dust finally settled a day later, every surface imaginable was covered in dust.
I’m pretty sure none of them wore masks when doing this. I honestly didn’t think to wear a mask either (since they weren’t and never really even warned us how bad it would be), but fortunately we were behind closed doors most of the time the particles were in the air.
Fortunately it was a granite countertop and not quartz. But I still can’t imagine that stuff is good to breathe on a recurring basis, and it still amazes me that they were fairly casual about the whole thing.
My guess is the industry just isn’t educating workers about the risks.
> Fortunately it was a granite countertop and not quartz.
Granites are primarily composed of feldspar and quartz, which are both primarily composed of silica. Silica is the thing that causes silicosis, and when that granite was cut it was clouds of silica dust that covered your home.
You were no more safe in that granite dust than you would have been in quartz dust.
Not sure I agree/understand, but it seems like if I’m inhaling 2x the poison over the same amount of time, that has exactly 2x the impact/risk on your health.
This isn’t the same as something like a virus, where it’s more binary.
To be clear, I’m not arguing to prove I’m right (because I’m certainly not an expert and am open to being wrong), I’m trying to understand more about how particle inhalation can have varying risks (or not) based on density.
TFA article says the stuff gets in your lungs and stays there. Are you trying to figure out whether you should wear protection for x% silica containing materials? Seems like a fool's errand.
Not at all, I actually wear a mask when just sweeping the garage. :) I certainly think there should be regulation requiring masks in industries like this — and I will definitely wear a mask the next time I’m around any sort of countertop dust.
I’m mostly just curious about the science, and whether/why it is more binary than I’m understanding, vs. just taking some random HN strangers’ words.
Silica particles won't disolve in water, it's like breathing broken glass, and that's the main problem not limited to silica, but breathing ANY particle that harms your organs.
Lots of things don’t dissolve in water but are still effectively contained by water. That said, I wonder what happens to the water being used for this purpose. If it isn’t treated/disposed of somehow, I could see it evaporating and allowing the dust to become airborne again. If this is in a permanent shop environment, it might explain the apparent lack of effectiveness of this solution.
Don't worry about it. You were exposed to a very small amount a single time. It's the repeated exposure day after day that kills people. Saying that, yeah it's not nice. But the single exposure to dust isn't going to hurt you.
When I do sand blasting a have a little box I do it in. With windows. I wonder why they don't have such an arrangement for the bench cutting. No matter the health hazard, it doesn't sound economical to cover a whole kitchen in dust for a two feet cut.
I bet there is a product that could be used, however I'm sure the installers think it's "just one more thing to carry around" when the faucet hole cut only takes a few minutes.
Sure, but is only more work to carry around the cover-thing, if you don't have to clean up the mess.
I quick search on Amazon for "Stone Cutting Dust Cover" gave plenty of cheap looking clear plastics covers with a hole for a vacuum cleaner. I bet there are pro variants available of those.
surprised they cut it dry. i just had to add 2 holes to my granite countertop. used a “well” guide that also has water in it. it’s meant to keep the cutting edge cool but also there was no dust to speak of
I’m pretty sure none of them wore masks when doing this. I honestly didn’t think to wear a mask either (since they weren’t and never really even warned us how bad it would be), but fortunately we were behind closed doors most of the time the particles were in the air.
Fortunately it was a granite countertop and not quartz. But I still can’t imagine that stuff is good to breathe on a recurring basis, and it still amazes me that they were fairly casual about the whole thing.
My guess is the industry just isn’t educating workers about the risks.