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MANAGEMENT KEY TO CONTROLLING BLACK LUNG
Safety Article by Harold Hough
If you think that Black Lung has disappeared from the nation’s underground coal mines, you are wrong. The Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Programs indicates that severe cases of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), commonly referred to as “black lung” disease, continue to occur among our nation’s underground coal miners. Occupational health specialists are also concerned that these new cases include progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), the most disabling and potentially fatal form of CWP, among some of the younger miners in the industry. If these new cases are to be stopped, mine managers must focus on coal dust control and monitoring miners’ health.
Although Black Lung has always been a health problem among coal miners, it was first noticed by doctors nearly two centuries ago. Miners’ asthma was first used in 1822 to describe the lung disease occurring among coal miners. The cause of the spitting, coughing, and breathlessness in coal miners was unknown, so doctors used the well-known word asthma to identify the condition. Later, silicosis became known as the disease producing breathlessness in miners who had worked where silica was thought to be in the coal mine dust
The risk of having black lung disease is directly related to the amount of dust inhaled over the years and the disease typically affects workers over age 50. Its common name comes from the fact that the inhalation of heavy deposits of coal dust makes miners lungs look black instead of a healthy pink. Ironically, people who live in cities often have some black deposits in their lungs from polluted air.
Since the particles of fine coal dust, which a miner breathes when he is in the mines, cannot be destroyed or removed from the lungs, it builds up. Eventually, this build-up causes thickening and scarring, making the lungs less efficient in supplying oxygen to the blood.
The primary symptom of the disease is shortness of breath, which gradually gets worse as the disease progresses. In severe cases, the patient may develop an enlargement and strain of the right side of the heart caused by chronic lung disease. This may eventually cause right-sided heart failure.
Some miners develop emphysema as a complication of black lung disease. Others develop a severe type of black lung disease called PMF, in which damage continues in the upper parts of the lungs even after exposure to the dust has ended. It is this form of black lung that has health officials at MSHA the most concerned. Doctors aren’t sure what causes this serious complication. Some think that it may be due to the breathing of a mixture of coal and silica dust that is found in certain mines. Silica is far more likely to lead to scarring.
AGGRESSIVE MINE MANAGEMENT HELPS
Mine management can have a major impact on the levels of black lung in their mine by monitoring their miners’ health and keeping dust levels under control. Personal dust monitors allow mines to monitor each miner’s health and help identify “hot spots” where dust levels may be too high. Regular health exams also allow the mines and the miners to detect problems early.
The second part of controlling black lung risks is reducing the levels of dust in the mine. Water sprayers are found on mechanical equipment to suppress dust and huge ventilation fans above ground push fresh air into the mine.
The government is also involved in tracking the continuing health of coal miners. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), started a Mobile Health Screening Program. This Mobile Unit travels to mining regions around the United States. Miners who participate in the Program receive health evaluations once every five years, at no cost to themselves. Chest x-rays can detect the early signs of and changes in CWP, often before the miner is aware of any lung problems.
Respirable dust control technology has improved, but miners still run the risk of developing this lung disease. However, the risk is much lower today and the cases that are discovered are much less severe. In the early 1970s, 11% of underground coal miners had signs of black lung. Today, that number is less than 3%. And, when there is such evidence, it often shows up as only small black spots and may have been caused by smoking rather than coal dust. This condition is does not lead to symptoms or disability.
The mining industry has made great strides in eliminating black lung. Although it is no longer the killer it was, it remains an occupational hazard for underground coal miners. Mine managers have to be aware that it hasn‘t gone away and aggressively monitor and control respirable dust.
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