Study: black lung cases hit 25-year high among coal miners in Central Appalachia - Entrepreneur Generations

One in five coal miners in Cantral Appalachia who have worked at least 25 years has black-lung disease, according to a new study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. That’s the highest reported rate in a quarter century.

“The study's researchers reviewed nearly fifty years of coal miner X-rays taken as part of a national NIOSH effort to identify disease among working coal miners. They compared the last five years of X-rays with those taken earlier,” Howard Berkes reports for NPR. “In addition to the heightened rates of disease, the study found that the most severe form of disease – progressive massive fibrosis – now occurs in 5 percent of veteran miners in the region, the highest rate ever recorded.”

One former mine inspector Berkes spoke with said the study proved that mining safety regulations are not rigorous enough, but a spokesperson for the National Mining Association, the industry’s biggest lobbying group, said the affected miners were exposed to the dust that caused the disease before stricter safety standards were enacted. 

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration imposed new mine dust exposure rules in 2016, but some mine operators have been accused of ducking those rules. 

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2LHoNW8 Study: black lung cases hit 25-year high among coal miners in Central Appalachia - Entrepreneur Generations

Posted by Entrepreneur Generations

Tweet