Tag: Black Lung

Black Lung Screenings And Town Hall In Oakhill

Black lung screenings will be available and free to the public Tuesday in Oak Hill.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Mobile Health Unit will be at New River Health in Oak Hill Tuesday to provide free health screenings from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The screenings are open to the public and to retired or working coal miners. Screenings will include chest x-rays, breathing tests and benefits counseling.

Access to this kind of testing in rural areas is vital, according to Courtney Rhoades, Black Lung Organizer with the Appalachian Citizens Law Center.

“Whether you’re a coal miner or someone who just thinks they have any type of pulmonary symptoms happening, it’s so important to make sure that you’re getting screened to make sure that you’re keeping up with your health,” Rhoades said.

A Black Lung Town Hall hosted by the National Black Lung Association, National Coalition of Black Lung and Respiratory Disease Clinics, and the United Mine Workers of America will be held after the health fair, at 5:00 p.m.
The town hall will provide updates on the black lung epidemic and the newly proposed silica dust exposure rule from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Coal Miners Testify For U.S. To Lower Silica Dust Exposure Limit

Silica dust is driving a surge in new black lung cases, causing more severe forms of the disease and in younger miners.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) held a hearing in Raleigh County on Thursday on silica dust exposure in coal mines.

Active and retired miners testified that a lower limit for silica dust exposure is needed to protect the health of coal miners.

Silica dust is driving a surge in new black lung cases, causing more severe forms of the disease and in younger miners.

Gary Hairston, a retired miner in Fayette County who’s president of the National Black Lung Association, said it leaves younger miners unable to support their families.

“It’s bad when you’re at 35 years old and you can’t work no more,” he said. “I was at 48 and I couldn’t work no more.”

MSHA proposes a limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter per shift, in line with Occupational Health and Safety Administration guidelines.

The public will have until Sept. 11 to comment on the proposal, an extension of 15 days.

Mine Agency To Hold Hearing In Raleigh County On Silica Dust Exposure

The hearing will start at 9 a.m. on Aug. 10 at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy, 1301 Airport Road in Beaver.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration will hold a hearing next week in Raleigh County on the proposed limit for silica dust exposure in coal mines.

The hearing will start at 9 a.m. on Aug. 10 at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy, 1301 Airport Road in Beaver.

The agency proposes to lower the maximum exposure to 50 micrograms per meter of air during an eight-hour shift. That matches the limit already in place under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Silica dust exposure has been linked to an earlier onset of black lung disease in miners, and to more severe cases.

The hearing is the only one scheduled to take place in Central Appalachia, where new cases of black lung disease are most concentrated.

MSHA Proposes Lower Limit On Silica Dust Exposure For Coal Miners

The limit would be lowered to 50 micrograms per cubic meter per eight-hour shift, down from 100.

Federal mine safety regulators have announced a long-delayed rule that could help reduce cases of black lung disease.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration proposes a new limit on coal miners’ exposure to silica dust. 

The limit would be lowered to 50 micrograms per cubic meter per eight-hour shift, down from 100. That matches what’s already required in other industries by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

“The purpose of this proposed rule is simple: prevent more miners from suffering from debilitating and deadly occupational illnesses by reducing their exposure to silica dust,” said Chris Williamson, assistant secretary for Mine Safety and Health at the U.S. Department of Labor. “Silica overexposures have a real-life impact on a miner’s health.”

Studies in recent years have found that silica dust exposure is driving an increase in cases of severe black lung disease in younger miners.

In a statement Friday, Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, said the change was long overdue.

“Workers in other industries have long been protected from excessive exposure to silica dust, but miners were not, even though they work in an environment where silica dust is encountered daily,” he said. “It was a travesty that the government had never taken steps to protect them. But now it finally has.”

The proposed rule also calls for exposure sampling and medical surveillance at no cost to miners.

The agency will take public comment on the proposed rule as well as hold hearings in Arlington, Virginia, and Denver on dates yet to be announced.

Black Lung Clinics Awarded More Than $2 Million

Black lung clinics across West Virginia will receive more than $2 million in federal funding.

More than $2 million in federal funding is supporting black lung clinics across the state.

The money from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will go towards the state’s Black Lung and Coal Miner Clinics Program to provide financial help to the program’s health and treatment services.

Some of the services the program offers include lung function testing and rehabilitation, chest imaging, case management and benefits counseling.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is a ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies.

She said in a statement that miners are entitled to the medical care and treatment provided by the clinics and that they will continue to advocate for more accessible healthcare for coal miners in the Senate.

“West Virginia has a long tradition of generating America’s energy, and our coal miners are on the front lines every day to keep the lights on across our country,” Capito said. “I have been an advocate for coal miners for a long time and this funding from HHS will continue to help clinics deliver treatment to miners suffering from black lung. As the top Republican on the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, I will continue fighting for resources that provide assistance to brave West Virginia coal miners dealing with this disease.”

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Division of Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation, there were 28,628 total black lung beneficiaries nationwide in 2022.

West Virginia has more cases of black lung disease than any other state. And nearly one-quarter of the total number of cases reported, according to the Department of Labor.

More information about the West Virginia Black Lung Clinics Program, including services available by county, is available online.

Study Shows Coal Miners Face Higher Risk Of Death From Lung Disease

The University of Illinois Chicago and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied more than 235,000 coal miners who died between 1979 and 2017.

This story was updated to note that coal miners were found to have a lower risk of dying from heart disease, not of developing it.

A federal government study shows that coal miners face a higher risk for death from lung disease, including black lung.

Coal miners born in 1940 or after have an eight times greater likelihood of dying from nonmalignant respiratory disease than the general population.

The University of Illinois Chicago and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied more than 235,000 coal miners who died between 1979 and 2017.

The study found they had far greater odds of dying of black lung, COPD and lung cancer than the general population. Modern miners face greater risk than their predecessors, and the risk is concentrated in three Appalachian states: Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.

Severe black lung disease, which is caused by inhalation of mine dust, is more frequent in younger miners, the study found.

The only bright spot: coal miners were found to have a lower risk of dying from heart disease than the general population.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration is expected to issue a new rule on coal dust exposure in mines.

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