A 48 year-old stonemason told he has weeks to live after developing an incurable lung disease linked to kitchen worktops is taking legal action against his former employers.
Father-of-three Marek Marzec, who has lung disease silicosis, says the dust he inhaled while cutting trendy quartz kitchen worktops has left him ‘unable to breathe’ and ‘in terrible pain’.
Mr Marzec, who is too ill to undergo a life-saving lung transplant, has accused the stone manufacturers where he worked for a decade of using ‘unsafe’ working conditions.
Speaking on his deathbed, Mr Marzec, who lives in London, said he is demanding ‘urgent’ safety changes to prevent others from dying by simply ‘doing their job’.
Growing numbers of doctors have warned about the risks of dust particles from the stone, which can be seen in kitchens up and down the country.
Popular quartz worktops are made from 90 per cent ground quartz, and 10 per cent resins and pigments.
When processed into their final worktop form this results in the release of potentially harmful particles of fine silica dust being released into the air.
Once inhaled into the lungs, the particles can build up, causing internal scarring and inflammation of the lungs known as silicosis.
Mr Marek Marzec has been left terminally ill at 48 after spending a decade working with quartz worktops at a stone manufacturer.
Mr Marzec claims his employer did not provide safe working conditions and did not take steps to minimise the harm of toxic particles.
This leads the lungs at increased risk of infection, reduced their overall effectiveness, and can cause potentially fatal organ failure.
In the last year, there have been 11 UK cases including one death from the progressive disease, caused by breathing in crystalline silica dust during manufacturing or fitting.
The only effective way to treat the condition is a lung transplant, which requires a certain level of physical fitness.
In August, doctors treating patients suffering with the disease penned a report that was published in the British Medical Journal’s Thorax publication, in which they called for the worktops to be banned.
Mr Marzec, who is originally from Poland, has worked for several engineered stone manufacturers in north London and Hertfordshire since 2012.
He was diagnosed with silicosis in April earlier this year, with his condition sadly having deteriorated rapidly since.
Mr Marzec is currently being treated at Whittington Hospital in north London and is under the care of leading occupational lung disease expert Dr Jo Feary from the Royal Brompton Hospital.
He is now receiving end-of-life care.
Expensive quartz worktops are made from one of the hardest minerals on earth which, when processed, results in the release of potentially harmful particles of fine dust.
‘I arrived in the UK hoping to build a better life and wanting to make sure that my young daughters were financially secure,’ he said.
‘Instead, because of the work I did cutting quartz worktops, I have been left unable to breathe and in terrible pain.
‘I cannot tell you how angry I am that I was allowed to work in these conditions and that my life has been cut short simply for doing my job.
‘I am not the only person whose life has been put at risk by this lethal dust.
‘It is time for urgent action to stop these dangerous working conditions I had to face before other stone workers contract this terrible disease and die.’
Mr Marzec is represented by legal firm Leigh Day, who say tougher safety measures are urgently needed to halt the growing number of cases of silicosis linked to cutting engineered stone.
Ewan Tant, Mr Marzec’s solicitor and a partner at Leigh Day, warned that without these measures, further deaths could be seen in the coming years.
‘This is a tragic case, with my client now on end-of-life care as a result of working with engineered stone, in what he alleges were appalling conditions, totally unfit for purpose,’ Mr Tant said.
‘No one should end up facing the bleakest of outcomes simply as a result of going to work.’
Precautionary measures can be taken to reduce the impact of the toxic dust, including wearing specialist equipment and ‘wetting’ the stone to suppress the dust.
