Black lung disease, the common name for underground coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, has now been linked to workers who take part in surface coal mining, according to an investigation by NPR News and the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), with additional reporting by the Charleston Gazette.
The illness is the direct consequence of inhaling coal dust, which progressively builds up in the lungs until it can’t be removed by the body. This leads to inflammation, fibrosis and, in the worse cases death.
The study shows that diagnosed cases in the last decade have doubled, while the detection of advanced stages of the disease has quadrupled since the 1980s in central Appalachia, which includes the states of Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia.
The illness is the direct consequence of inhaling coal dust, which progressively builds up in the lungs until it can’t be removed by the body. This leads to inflammation, fibrosis and, in the worse cases death.
The study shows that diagnosed cases in the last decade have doubled, while the detection of advanced stages of the disease has quadrupled since the 1980s in central Appalachia, which includes the states of Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia.
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fuckthatshit | 10 months ago | +45 -2[image]- [ -5 Comment by deleted was filtered ] Show (0 descendent comments)
psychmike | 10 months ago | +11I wonder how many coal miners who are concerned with black lung are cigarette smokers
BigBadDave85 | 10 months ago | +7 -1Miners are some of the strongest people you'll meet. Wiry fucks they are.
DrunkenPiano | 10 months ago | +1very true, I have a friend who works in a diamond mine. First time I shook his hand I thought he was going to crush mine.
Huerequeque | 10 months ago | +2If your lungs are gonna get all fucked up by coal dust, leading to disability and death, you might as well enjoy a cigarette or three.
BorisYeltsin | 10 months ago | +8These guys are true heroes. They labour so we can flick on a switch and have light or consume products from industries fired by coal. They sacrifice their bodies so everyone else can live comfortably. For those interested George Orwell's essay Down the Mine is an excellent representation of their working lives.
SomeOleBullshit | 10 months ago | +1Good point. I disagree with you a lot on here, but you make a damn good point on this. Though, most people don't know anything about modern coal mines. They are nothing like you think they are. Nothing at all.
brohamn | 10 months ago | +5Haven't these hillbillies ever heard of a respirator? Shit even a dust mask would help out.- SomeOleBullshit | 10 months ago | +1Do you know anything about coal mines brohamn? I don't mean that in a smart ass way, I'm just asking.
brazilbilly | 10 months ago | +5I Sand blasted in Florida for 7 years,every bag of sand I put in the pot had a warning label about black lung .I had an air conditioned helmet with filtered air but would be outside in the dust smoking ciggs when someone else was blasting. They say the shit you CAN see is bad but the shit you cant see is worse,its like breathing in glass
HoraceRider | 10 months ago | +3You're getting black lung confused with Silicosis. Same process though. Only two differences are 1-Carbon (coal) is a carcinigen plus all the black lung shit that it does, and 2-Silica is like breathing broken glass, razor blades, pick your poison. Not a carcinigem but physically equally destructive to the lungs.
infantcide | 10 months ago | +3I worked at a coal mine in Louisiana for a few months. Dont think it would hurt me since it was above ground. It makes me wonder if thats what so of the locals have.
friendlygarfield | 10 months ago | +2wonder how they mined 100s of years ago if this we only learn now a days :-)
yardjock | 10 months ago | +2in the mean time CEO's and politicians rake in millions claiming its the price you have to pay for humanity- psychmike | 10 months ago | +499% chance your computer is powered by electricity produced from a coal-fired power plant.
Winterborn82 | 10 months ago | +2if we switched over to your eco-friendly energy, between the high cost energy and loss of a lot of everyday products i bet it wouldn't take long for you to change your mind.- osgood | 10 months ago | +2see these guy work very hard everyday now we put people on wefare because we feel it to dangerous for them to work any more
- SomeOleBullshit | 10 months ago | +2If you showed someone a picture of an underground mine they wouldn't believe you. The walls of coal mines aren't black... They are white. They are sprayed down with a water and limestone dust. Black lung isn't really an issue in any legally run mining operation in the U.S
Federal inspectors are in and out of those mines all the time. You don't know when they are showing up, and you don't know who they are when they do. If they find anything wrong, anything at all. Heads roll for weeks.
Coal mining is so regulated it's unbelievable. It is not a dangerous job if you pay attention to what you do.
All these people yelling about the danger of coal mines would be shocked to hear that the plant that makes seat belts in my town has more accidents than the coal mines. - HoraceRider | 10 months ago | +2Interesting irony, seat belt plant, accidents. Bwaahaahaa. Since all the miners seem to smoke, I wonder if the guys that work in the seatbelt plant drive without seat belts more than the average population!?
- SomeOleBullshit | 10 months ago | +2First off they would be a huge pain in the ass for the workers, and many wouldn't wear them. Also the company wouldn't just offer to pay for something they aren't being asked to pay for.
But the main reason is they really wouldn't make much difference. If they did, they would be required by the feds, they regulate safety shit like crazy.
drad | 10 months ago | +1I would say black lung disease a bigger pain in the ass. Or chest rather.
If i had the misfortune of working in a mine I would wear one everyday, no matter what. Anything that would stop the coal dust entering my lungs would be in front of my face.- SomeOleBullshit | 10 months ago | +1Many things skkwp the coal dust from entering your lungs. Such as the way the air systems are set up, the limestone dust and water mixture that they spray on the wall keeps any coal dust from coming off the walls at all. They put up curtians between the areas where they have sprayed, and where they are just then cutting, and have not yet had time to spray. I believe those people do use masks.
As far as the "misfortune" of working in a mines, in areas with coal mines they are the highest paying jobs in that area. 25-50$ per hour depending on what your job is.
- DrunkenPiano | 10 months ago | +1I'm torn between unions, one hand they helped make work places safe for the common man but now a days it's totally fucking abused. Last place I worked this one guy would come in early and finish all his work solo and then sit on his fucking iphone for the rest of the day while everyone else was working. It was a job that was based around team effort or I wouldn't complain even the slightest but they just would not fire him even though he did the bare minimum and always took off at least an hour early every weekend.
They have their place but unions shouldn't made you invulnerable to being canned for being a lazy fuck.
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