从事切割工作的人员因吸入大量灰尘而得病

从事切割工作的人员因吸入大量灰尘而得病

Rodriguez could not have anticipated that his life would be profoundly changed by kitchen and bathroom countertops.

罗德里格斯没有预料到他的生活将被厨房和浴室的台面深刻地改变。

He says that he grew up poor, in a small Mexican town, and came to the United States when he was 14. He spoke no English, but he immediately got a job.

他说，他在墨西哥的一个小镇上贫穷地长大，14岁时来到美国。他不会说英语，但很快就找到了工作。

"In the beginning I was working in a Chinese restaurant, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. It was all day, so I never had time to go to school," he recalls. "I was a dishwasher."

“刚开始的时候，我在一家中餐馆工作，从上午10点到晚上10点。那是一整天，所以我从来没有时间去上学，”他回忆道。“我是个洗碗工。”

He labored in restaurant kitchens for about eight years. But he wanted Sundays off to go to church and play soccer. So when his brother-in-law offered to help him get a new job, he jumped at the chance.

他在餐厅厨房工作了大约8年。但他希望周日可以去教堂和踢足球。所以，当他的妹夫提出帮他找一份新工作的时候，他马上就抓住了这个机会。

That's how he ended up in a workshop that cuts and polishes slabs of an artificial stone to make kitchen and bathroom countertops.

他最后来到了一个车间，切割和抛光人造石板来制作厨房和浴室的台面。

Back then, in 2000, the material he was cutting was also something totally different for the American countertop industry. The stuff looked a lot like natural granite. In reality, it was made in a factory, from bits of quartz bound together by a resin.

2000年的时候，他切割的材料对美国的台面行业来说也是完全不同的东西。这种材料看起来很像天然花岗岩。实际上，它是在工厂里用树脂粘合在一起的石英碎片制成的。

This kind of engineered stone, often marketed as simply "quartz," is now one of the most popular options for kitchen and bathrooms.

这种人造石通常被简单地称为“石英”，现在是厨房和浴室最受欢迎的选择之一。

Health concerns emerge

健康问题出现

The trouble is, workers have gotten sick, and even died, after cutting this engineered stone and breathing in its dangerous dust, public health officials say.

公共卫生官员说，问题是，工人们在切割这种经过加工的石头并吸入危险的灰尘后，已经生病，甚至死亡。

Overseas, some are even calling for a ban on selling engineered quartz for countertops.

在海外，一些人甚至呼吁禁止出售人造石英台面。

Rodriguez, 42, is the first person known to have fallen ill in the U.S. His lungs are so damaged that he is on oxygen about six hours a day. Doctors expect that he will need a lung transplant.

现年42岁的罗德里格斯是美国已知的第一个患病的人。他的肺部严重受损，每天大约需要吸氧六小时。医生预计他需要进行肺移植。

And so far, physicians have identified at least 18 more countertop workers with silicosis in this country. They worry that more cases are out there, and more people are at risk, given that the countertop fabrication industry in the U.S. has around 100,000 workers.

到目前为止，在这个国家，医生已经确认至少有18个台面工人患有矽肺。他们担心，鉴于美国台面制造业约有10万名工人，会有更多的案件发生，更多人面临风险。

"In the beginning I was angry, but I was angry with me," says Rodriguez, who sued his employer for allegedly causing his illness.

“一开始我很生气，但我对自己很生气，”罗德里格斯说，他起诉了他的老板，声称是他（老板）让他生病的。

"When I moved from the restaurant to this company, I was getting more money. Because of that change, I ruined my life," he says. "Then I just realized that it wasn't just me. It was the whole company — that they don't protect their employees."

“当我从餐厅转到这家公司时，我得到了更多的钱。因为这个改变，我毁了自己的生活。“然后我才意识到，不只是我这么想。而是整个公司——他们不保护员工。”

The shop where Rodriguez worked is run by Cosentino, a major player in the countertop industry.

罗德里格斯工作的那家店是由台面行业的主要参与者科森蒂诺经营的。

"We are extremely committed to safety and continuously strive to improve our operations," a company spokesperson told NPR. "We hope your article raises awareness in the industry to follow a proper safety culture."

“我们非常重视安全，并不断努力改善我们的运营，”公司发言人告诉NPR。“我们希望你的文章能提高业内人士的意识，遵循正确的安全文化。”

The dangers of dry cutting

干料切割的危险

During those early days, according to pretrial depositions from Rodriguez and company executives, cutting was done dry. That means no spray of water on the cutting blades to keep dust from flying into the air.

根据罗德里格斯和公司高管的审前证词，在最初的日子里，切割是在干燥的环境中进行的。这意味着在切割刀片上没有水雾来防止灰尘飞到空中。

The company later changed this practice. But for years, Rodriguez did a variety of jobs to process the slabs, surrounded by dust from his own cutting and that of his co-workers.

该公司后来改变了这一做法。但多年来，罗德里格斯做了各种各样的工作来处理这些石板，周围都是他自己和同事切割下来的灰尘。

"We see dust everywhere. Even on the floor, in our hair, in all our bodies, I mean everywhere," recalls Rodriguez.

“到处都是灰尘。即使是在地板上，在我们的头发里，在我们的身体里，我指的是任何地方，”罗德里格斯回忆道。