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A 22-year-old has been diagnosed with a deadly respiratory disease dubbed 'the new asbestos'.
Connor Downes, from Gold Coast, is the only person in Australia to be diagnosed with silicosis – which is caused by killer silica dust particles.
Mr Downes had been working with the material for a few years before he had the disease.
'When they did the CT scan you could see the nodules all through my lung,' he told the ABC.
Connor Downes, 22 (pictured), who was diagnosed last month, is just one of hundreds of people who are preparing for a clbad action
Mr Downes (pictured) said in his three-year-old working at the 'wet-cut workplace' dust blanketed the floor on a day-to-day basis
Mr Downes said it was terrifying to find out he had a possible fatal disease.
'While everyone knew that we were going to be harmful, we did not know how far,' Mr Downes said.
'Being diagnosed was a mbadive shock because the doctors told me I can not go back to work, and that's the only trade I know.
'My partner and I was planning to have children and I'd just bought a house, but now
Mr Downes is just one of the hundreds of people who are preparing to launch a clbad action suit.
Slater and Gordon announced on Thursday that they would lead the way to fatal lung disease.
Since being diagnosed, Mr Downes said, 'It has been a pretty rough process' given to him.
"It's tough because I'm not getting ready for a lot of medical appointments," he said.
Shane Parata (pictured) was diagnosed with silicosis days before he died his brother Anthony
Slater and Gordon say they have been diagnosed with silicosis.
Practice Group leader Margaret Kent told Daily Mail Australia several major stone bench top suppliers.
What is silicosis?
Silicosis is the scarring of the lung tissue which leads to a shortness of breath due to a buildup of silica dust in the air bags.
It typically affects tradesmen who work with concrete, bricks, tiles, sandstone and granite.
Symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing, chest pain, loss of appetite, fatigue
It is caused by exposure to respirable crystalline silica over many years, but extremely high-short-term exposures can cause it to develop rapidly
Exposure to respirable crystalline silica can lead to a range of respiratory diseases, including silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer
Source: Queensland Workplace Health and Safety
'Under Australian law the responsibility for harm caused in these circumstances rightly falls on the manufacturers involved,' Ms Kent said.
'The extreme levels of harm caused by dust from stone bench-top products in Australia can be traced back to a small number of manufacturers.'
Ms Downes, who said it was encouraging to get checked, said when he got into his car at the end of his shift, 'a big puff of smoke' would come off his clothes.
Ms Kent said: 'It is a tragedy that so many people have, or will, become grievously ill just by going to work.
'This clbad action will seek to ensure that the manufacturers are held to account for the harms their products have caused.
'It is outrageous that a product is legally allowed to be used when it poses such a severe risk to workers,' she said.
Mr Downes' case comes after several other reported cases, including Gold Coast form stonemason Shane Parata and his brother Anthony White, who died in 2017.
Joel Goldby, who was just 15 years old when he started working on artificial stone benchtops in Queensland.
Now at 28, Mr Goldby – who is recruiting his brother and son of the best in the industry – struggles to breathe.
'I am short of breath all the time, it just feels like my lungs are heaps tighter than they should be,' Mr Goldby said.
'I had no idea it was even a possibility I would not have got my best friends and my brother to work there.'
Joel Goldby (pictured), who was just 15 years old when he started working on artificial stone benchtops in Queensland
While Mr Goldby is still working in the industry in Victoria, his mates are not so lucky, struggling to make ends meet while on workcover.
'I know about 30 more boys who have it now.'
In April this year, the federal government established the National Dust Diseases Task Force in response to new cases of accelerated silicosis.
In Queensland, more than 100 stonemasons have been diagnosed with the condition in the six months to April.
At least one of them has died, and 15 of the cases are considered to be terminal.
Mr White (pictured) is believed to be the first tradesman to die after experts warned about engineered stone last year, calling it 'the next asbestos'
Silicosis is an incurable and deliberating lung disease described as the biggest threat to tradesmen since asbestos and mesothelioma (stock image)
There may also have been a surge of cases in Victoria, which is dangerous to the feathers.
Between July 2017 and March this year, 44 silicosis claims have been lodged with Victoria's WorkSafe, 35 of them stonemasons.
Ms Kent said the clbad action approach was intended to supplement existing workers' compensation entitlements.
It is important for all workers who have been injured to access, 'she said.
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