(Reuters) - More than 10 percent of America’s coal miners with 25 or
more years of experience have black lung disease, the highest rate
recorded in roughly two decades, according to a government study
released on Thursday that showed cases concentrated heavily in central
Appalachia.
The study by researchers from the government’s National Institute of
Occupational Safety and Health marks the most authoritative evidence to
date of a resurgence of the incurable respiratory illness caused by coal
dust, which plagued miners in the 1970s but was nearly eradicated by
the 1990s.
“Although many consider black lung a disease of
antiquity, it is undeniable that … these contemporary cases resulted
from injurious exposures encountered in the 21st century,” the authors
said in the report, published in the American Journal of Public Health.
The
National Mining Association, which represents U.S. coal mining
companies, has cast doubt on assertions that black lung disease is
rebounding, arguing that miners are not required to participate in
screenings.
“The exclusion of healthy individuals who self-select out of the
program may skew the results – we won’t know until more data is
available,” said NMA spokeswoman Ashley Burke.
The authors of the
NIOSH report said that their findings underscored the need for stricter
regulations as the administration of U.S President Donald Trump seeks
industry feedback on coal dust policy enacted in 2014. The 2014
standards reduced allowable miner coal dust exposure in underground
mines to 1.5 milligrams per cubic meter, from 2 mg/m3.
“Enhancement and diligent enforcement of the 2014 standards remains critical for reversing these trends,” they wrote.
Burke said the NMA does not oppose the 2014 limits.
She
added: “The study’s findings are very troubling but, importantly, cover
miners whose exposure dates back decades, before more rigorous
standards were put into place.”
APPALACHIAN CLUSTER
The
highest rates of the disease are appearing in central Appalachian
states like Kentucky and West Virginia, according to the report. In that
region, a fifth of long-serving miners have black lung disease, and
five percent have an advanced form considered completely debilitating.
“We
can think of no other industry or workplace in the United States in
which this would be considered acceptable,” they wrote in the report.
Health
officials, who have been flagging anecdotal evidence of increased rates
of black lung for years in Appalachia, say miners in the region are
plumbing the depths of played-out coal seams using heavy blasting
equipment that can exacerbate dust exposure.
The National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine last month said that
coal companies need to make a “fundamental shift” in how they control
exposure to coal dust. It also urged regulators to enhance dust
monitoring and conduct more research on the causes of the resurgence.
Meanwhile,
a federal fund to aid victims of black lung disease could require a
multi-billion dollar taxpayer bailout if Congress does not extend or
increase the tax on coal production that funds it, the Government
Accountability Office said last month.
Would a clean fuel do that?
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