Coal industry, regulators discuss how to reverse growth in black-lung disease; a lower limit?

Over the weekend we passed along a report that the Mine Safety and Health Administration would lower the limit on miners' coal-dust exposure in an effort to fight coal workers' pneumoconiosis, generally known as black lung, as rates of the disease are growing, especially among younger miners.

Other reports have suggested that MSHA was backing off earlier intentions to lower the limit. Now it appears those signals were part of a negotiation process with the coal industry. The process includes discussion of the limit, Kris Maher of The Wall Street Journal reports. Another recommendation on the table is a requirement that dust monitors alert miners when they reach their exposure limit for the day. (WSJ chart)

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reported that roughly 9 percent of workers with 25 years or more in mines tested positive for black lung in 2005-2006, up from about 4 percent in the late 1990s. The rates also doubled for people with 20 to 24 years in mining, including many in their 30s and 40s. More than 10,000 miners have died from black lung during the past decade, compared with fewer than 400 from mine accidents.

MSHA officials attribute the black-lung increase partly to longer work shifts and companies' uneven dust-mitigation practices, Maker reports. A spokesman for the National Mining Association declined to comment on possible causes for the increase or on the negotiations. Safety officials told Maher that much of the easily accessible underground coal has been mined, and companies are increasingly dependent on thinner coal seams, which requires cutting through rock, which creates more dust. (Read more)