Black Lung Disease Coal Workers' Pnuemoconiosis
What is black lung disease or coal workers' pneumoconiosis?
Black lung disease is a lung disease which is caused by years of exposure to coal or carbon. This is most common obviously in miners, as we have all heard in the media and through books and movies and so forth. The people most at risk for coal minors' disease or coal workers' disease are people who work in underground mining. People who do surface coal mining or strip mining are at much less risk because there is much less ambient coal or carbon in the air that they breathe. It is really somebody who is underground, who is miles underground - literally inside a mine breathing these materials who is at much higher risk of developing these conditions.
How does coal dust affect the lungs?
Coal dust affects the lungs when it's inhaled and gets into the terminal portions of the lungs or the aveoli, where gas exchange takes place and that coal or that carbon triggers an inflammatory and an immune reaction in which a scar is formed around that particle of coal. If enough of the coal gets into the lungs and enough of the scarring and inflammatory response takes place, there's scarring and inflammation taking place throughout the lung and that ultimately has the ability to affect and impair one's ability to breathe.
What are the symptoms of black lung disease or coal workers' pneumoconiosis?
The most common symptoms of black lung disease are going to be shortness of breath, coughing, sometimes fever, sometimes chest discomfort and difficulty performing physical activities that one might have been able to do easily in the past such as exercise, walking up a hill, walking up a flight of stairs and so forth.
How is black lung disease diagnosed?
Black Lung Disease is diagnosed first and foremost on a basis of a history which is compatible with that condition. If somebody has not had any type of significant coal exposure or carbon exposure in the air that they have been breathing, then the likelihood that they have any type of related disease is really miniscule. So first and foremost, it's a history that is compatible with that disease and then a combination of a physical examination, pulmonary function testing and radiography which include chest x-rays as well as CAT scans.
What is the difference between simple and complicated black lung disease?
Simple black lung disease is a type of condition where you have smaller, on the order of several millimeter-large, scars and nodules forming in the lungs. In complicated black lung disease, there's more progressive fibrosis, more progressive scarring, retraction of different parts of the lung, and some of these masses and lumps of inflammation can actually coalesce and form larger areas of masses within the lungs.
Is black lung disease fatal?
Black lung disease does have the potential to be fatal. There is a continuum of disease associated with black lung disease, so it can range from anything from mild to moderate to, unfortunately, severe. In its severe form, people can be markedly disabled from a pulmonary standpoint. Even simple household activities, such as walking across the room, brushing one's teeth, shampooing one's hair, and so forth can be very difficult activities if you can barely catch your breath.
How is black lung disease treated?
Unfortunately, there's no specific treatment for black lung disease. People whose lung impairment has reached the point that they would benefit from supplemental oxygen, or extra oxygen at home, would certainly receive oxygen. Other than that, there's unfortunately no specific medicine that reverses the damage that's been done to the lungs. The damage that's done could be thought of as a scar, and just as you might have a scar on your arm that doesn't go away or doesn't heal, scars, or fibrosis inside the lungs don't go away either.
What are the complications associated with black lung disease?
The complications associated with black lung disease are really limited to the respiratory system. Certainly, lung disease of that type is associated with difficulty in breathing, with shortness of breath, with certain types of physical activities and in its most severe form, somebody can be so short of breath just performing minimal activities such as walking across a room. There is, in addition, an association with black lung disease and cancer, and it is definitely a carcinogen. People who suffer from black lung disease are at a greater risk to develop lung malignancies.
How is black lung disease prevented?
Black lung disease is prevented by taking the appropriate precautions at the workplace to prevent any type of exposure. OSHA and other regulatory agencies have developed guidelines as to what the maximum number or particles per cubic millimeter of carbon particles are acceptable in the air, and there are respirators that have been developed and approved specifically for mining work and for work around carbon and coal. It's very important that people use that type of equipment and follow very closely the recommended safety precautions. Other things such as appropriate ventilation in the workplace, appropriate ventilation in the mine if your work is inside of a mine, and things of that nature.
How common is black lung disease?
Nationally speaking, it's obviously going to be a relatively uncommon condition, because very few people are exposed to coal, and very few people work in mines. In terms of the workers who actually do this type of profession, it's a very significant health concern for them. A certain percentage every year are diagnosed unfortunately with coal workers related lung conditions. Certainly some of the older people who have worked in these mines for decades and decades, who have worked before some of the more rigid, some of the more recent health and environmental protections went into effect, are definitely at high risk for developing these lung conditions.
