Coal Dust

Abstract

Coal is an organic, combustible, rock‐like natural substance that occurs in various forms from hard and brittle anthracite to soft and friable lignite. Coal mine dust often contains silica and other minerals found within the coal seam or in the adjacent strata. In the United States and other countries, coal miners are at risk of developing chronic lung diseases caused by cumulative exposure to respirable coal mine dust. These diseases can lead to significant lung function impairment, disability, and premature death. Collectively known as “black lung,” they include a spectrum of interstitial lung diseases including coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), mixed dust pneumoconiosis, and dust‐related diffuse fibrosis as well as chronic airway diseases including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Since the late 1990s, the prevalence of CWP and its most severe form, progressive massive fibrosis, have increased in the United States, most notably in central Appalachia. Factors contributing to this resurgence might include thin‐seam coal mining and/or cutting rock to access coal seams, which likely exposes miners to respirable coal mine dust with a higher content of other hazardous dusts including silica and silicates. Many countries have occupational exposure limits for coal mine dust typically based on assessment of the mass of dust collected during a work shift.