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Category: Respiratory Diseases / Diseases and Disorders / Work / Mining (Rural) / Mining Industry / Activism and Lobbying / Federal - State Issues

Another Queensland miner diagnosed with black lung disease

Friday, 1 Jul 2016 17:45:35

Black lung disease is caused by extended exposure to coal dust. (AFP - file photo)

Authorities have confirmed the third case of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), also known as black lung disease, in Queensland in as many days.

What is black lung?

Pneumoconiosis is a potentially fatal disease caused by long exposure to coal dust, more commonly known as "black lung" because those with the disease have lungs that look black instead of a healthy pink.

Black lung most often stems from working in the coal industry or in the manufacturing of graphite or man-made carbon products and has no known cure.

The risk of getting black lung depends on how much time has been spent around coal dust.

There are two types of black lung: simple and complicated.

There are relatively few symptoms associated with simple black lung, also known as coal worker's pneumoconiosis (CWP), and the prognosis is usually good.

But CWP can progress into the more complicated progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), the symptoms of which may include a long-term cough and shortness of breath.

There is no cure for black lung, but doctors may be able to treat complications caused by the disease.

In 2013, coal worker's pneumoconiosis killed 25,000 people, according to UK medical journal The Lancet.

Source: University of Kentucky, US National Library of Medicine and The Lancet

The latest patient is a 39-year-old man who worked at Bowen Basin mines in central Queensland over an 11-year period.

A spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources and Mines said the man was not currently employed in the industry.

On Thursday, a 62-year-old underground coal miner who had worked in Bowen Basin mines for 20 years was confirmed as having CWP.

On Wednesday, the department confirmed a 55-year-old man had the disease.

The department said Queensland's mining companies were offering for workers to have new X-rays taken and to have existing X-rays re-read.

Ten people in Queensland have now been diagnosed with the disease in the past year.

The department said it expected further cases would be identified.

Black lung disease is caused by extended exposure to coal dust and was thought to have been eradicated about 30 years ago.

A clinical focus published in the Medical Journal of Australia earlier this month recommended an industry-funded screening program for at-risk workers every three years and mandatory reporting of cases to a register.

The report said one tougher standard of exposure limit was also needed in Australia to help eradicate the disease.

Current coal dust exposure limits vary between states and show considerable variations of monitoring protocols between sites.

In Queensland, 3 milligrams of coal dust per metre cubed is allowed, whereas in New South Wales it is 2.5mg.

The report found NSW had probably been more stringent when it came to the regulation and implementation of screening.

The article came two months after a Senate committee called for a national coal dust exposure standard and an industry fund to cover medical costs.

AustraliaPlus


 

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