Introducing zero-silica engineered stone
Christchurch-based stone benchtop fabricator AGB is continuing its fight against silicosis by being the first in the country to supply zero-silica engineered stone.
A family-run business in Hornby South, AGB was the first New Zealand business to ban high-silica engineered stone, and has now gone one step further with its new zero-silica engineered stone slabs expected to arrive in New Zealand in September 2024.
“If low-silica was the revolution, zero is the evolution. It’s actually not that big of a step to make. This is the next advancement of us being at the forefront of health and safety of workers – and our customers,” says company co-owner Cam Paranthoiene. “We have driven this stance with our suppliers because it’s important for our industry.” Cam and co-owner Christine Paranthoiene have created proprietary processes, and invested millions of dollars in state-of-the-art machinery, and been early adopters of wet-cutting and air monitoring as a safeguard against the potentially-fatal lung disease silicosis.
As part of phasing out high-silica slabs, they stopped working with suppliers who chose not to meet the company’s standards of less than 40% silica, and now say they will work with only those suppliers who commit to transition to zero-silica in its engineered stone range. “There’s still so much high and low-silica engineered stone in the market – and it’s being heavily-discounted – so we will only work with suppliers who have committed to transitioning out of both product lines to zero-silica.”
The Australian government has imposed a total ban on engineered stone following a 2021 report that claimed one in four stonemasons or joiners working with fabricated stone before 2018 had been diagnosed with silicosis. The ban took effect from 1 July 2024, however fabricators have until the end of 2024 to fulfil pre-orders.
The scale of the danger of silicosis from dust emitted when stone is dry cut or polished was not fully known in the New Zealand industry until 2019. The New Zealand Engineered Stone Advisory Group (NZESAG), supported by ACC and WorkSafe was established that year to ensure the safe practice guidelines for stone fabricators.
WorkSafe previously estimated 60,000 engineered stone slabs are imported each year, and there are believed to be approximately 130 businesses that fabricate them into benchtops for kitchens, bathrooms and commercial premises.
