Researchers say they've linked silica dust directly to severe black lung disease

A new study shows for the first time that the rising tide of black lung disease among coal miners is caused by the particles of dust in the air.

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According to the findings of a new study, exposure to a toxic rock dust appears to be the main driving force behind a recent epidemic of black lung disease among coal miners. Lawmakers failed to adequately regulate the dust for decades.

The study found that modern miners have the same lung problems as miners who worked decades ago.

The lead author of the study, Dr. Robert Cohen of the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, said that it was the smoking gun. Cohen's study tested lung tissue samples for the concentration of silica particles and found indirect evidence of the link.

It turned out we were correct. Cohen says that the pattern of pathology was very consistent.

Cohen looked at contemporary miners with severe disease and what was lodged in their lungs, compared to older workers who also had severe lung disease.

The more-contemporary workers had more silica in their lungs than the miners who were born between 1910 and 1930.

The findings of a joint investigation by NPR and PBS were supported by Cohen's work.

Thousands of recent cases of the severe disease, known as complicated black lung or progressive massive fibrosis, were found in just five states. The miners in their 30s had a rapid progression to lung disease.

NPR and Frontline analyzed decades of federal regulatory data and found thousands of instances where miners were working with dangerous levels of silica. The investigation found that federal regulators knew about excessive and toxic mine dust exposures but didn't do anything about it.

Silica particles can get lodged in a miner's lungs permanently

In recent decades, miners cutting into sandstone as they mine coal have become more common as larger coal deposits were exhausted. As the mining machines operate, the sandstone becomes sharp and can lodge in the lungs permanently.

Cohen and others want the federal government to make it harder for mines to be unsafe.

Cecil E. Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, told NPR that the study proves that the rise in cases of progressive massive fibrosis is due to the use of silica.

There is no excuse for the fact that nothing was done after I testified before Congress. The MSHA needs to act to protect miners. Failure to act risks thousands of lives.

The Inspector General of the Labor Department said that the 50-year-old standard for regulating silica dust was out of date and difficult to enforce.

The regulation is less stringent than the standard for other industries, but MSHA is studying a possible update to it.

Cohen says that he has heard good things from the Biden administration, but that they would really want to push it through.

The National Mining Association, a trade association for mining companies and equipment makers, has urged regulators to allow mining companies to use personal protective equipment as a strategy to comply with any new silica standard.