Leobardo Segura Meza, 27, of Pacoima suffers from silicosis, an incurable lung disease that has been afflicting workers who cut and polish engineered stone high in crystalline silica. (Mel Melcon / ...

Some workers are sick — some even died — after cutting stone countertops for kitchens and bathrooms. The material is cut to order in thousands of shops that may not understand the dangers. Some ...

Inside the row of workshops in an industrial stretch of Pacoima, men labored over hefty slabs of speckled stone, saws whining over the sounds of Spanish-language rock. Pale dust rose around them as ...