Mining Publication: Coal Dust Exposure and Mortality From Ischemic Heart Disease Among a Cohort of U.S. Coal Miners
Original creation date: October 2011
Background: Particulate exposure from air pollution increases the risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality. Although coal miners are highly exposed to coal dust particulate, studies of IHD mortality risk among coal miners have had inconsistent results. Previous studies may have been biased by the healthy worker effect. Methods: We examined the dose-response relationship between cumulative coal dust exposure, coal rank, and IHD mortality among a cohort of underground coal miners who participated in the National Study of Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis. Results: After adjusting for age, smoking, and body mass index, risk of IHD mortality increased at higher levels of coal dust exposure. Mortality risk was also associated with coal rank region. Conclusion: There was an increased risk of mortality from IHD associated with cumulative exposure to coal dust, and with coal rank. The effect of coal rank may be due differences in the composition of coal mine dust particulate. The association of risk of IHD mortality with cumulative particulate exposure is consistent with air pollution studies.
Authors: DD Landen, JT Wassell, LJ McWilliams, A Patel
Peer Reviewed Journal Article - October 2011
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20039192
Am J Ind Med 2011 Oct; 54(10):727-733
See Also
- Best Practices for Controlling Respirable Dust in Coal Mines
- Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Prevalence Disparity Between Australia and the United States
- Control of Respirable Dust
- Faces of Black Lung
- An Inexpensive Dual-Chamber Particle Monitor: Laboratory Characterization
- Investigation into Dust Exposures and Mining Practices in Mines in the Southern Appalachian Region
- Respirable Dust
- Respiratory Diseases
- Suggestion of a Cause-and-Effect Relationship Among Coal Rank, Airborne Dust, and Incidence of Workers' Pneumoconiosis
- Trend in Black Lung Cases Concerns NIOSH Researchers
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program