Understanding the pathogenesis of occupational coal and silica dust-associated lung disease

Abstract

Workers in the mining and construction industries are at increased risk of respiratory and other diseases as a result of being exposed to harmful levels of airborne particulate matter (PM) for extended periods of time. While clear links have been established between PM exposure and the development of occupational lung disease, the mechanisms are still poorly understood. A greater understanding of how exposures to different levels and types of PM encountered in mining and construction workplaces affect pathophysiological processes in the airways and lungs and result in different forms of occupational lung disease is urgently required. Such information is needed to inform safe exposure limits and monitoring guidelines for different types of PM and development of biomarkers for earlier disease diagnosis. Suspended particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 µm and 2.5 µm are considered biologically active owing to their ability to bypass the upper respiratory tract's defences and penetrate deep into the lung parenchyma, where they induce potentially irreversible damage, impair lung function and reduce the quality of life. Here we review the current understanding of occupational respiratory diseases, including coal worker pneumoconiosis and silicosis, and how PM exposure may affect pathophysiological responses in the airways and lungs. We also highlight the use of experimental models for better understanding these mechanisms of pathogenesis. We outline the urgency for revised dust control strategies, and the need for evidence-based identification of safe level exposures using clinical and experimental studies to better protect workers’ health.

Global disease burden and trends of leukemia attributable to occupational risk from 1990 to 2019: An observational trend study

“…The occupational risk was defined as patients' long-term exposure to carcinogenic factors in the working environment. These kinds of occupational carcinogenic factors include chemical, physical, and biological ( 27 ). The DALYs by age, sex, year, and region were collected from GBD 2019.…”

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“…Pneumoconiosis is one of a family of interstitial lung diseases caused by the inhalation and deposition of PMs, including silica particles, asbestos fibers, coal dust and other mineral dust, characterized by chronic pulmonary inflammation and progressive pulmonary fibrosis 19 . Pneumoconiosis patients suffer from a significantly increased risk of pulmonary functions 20,21 . Recent epidemiologic studies in humans have indicated that pulmonary fibrosis is closely correlated with PMs 21,22 .…”

“…Pneumoconiosis patients suffer from a significantly increased risk of pulmonary functions 20,21 . Recent epidemiologic studies in humans have indicated that pulmonary fibrosis is closely correlated with PMs 21,22 .…”

“…Remarkable contribution of particulate matter-induced macrophage ferroptosis to the pathology of pulmonary fibrosis. J Endocrinol Sci.2022;4(2):1-6 pathogenic in the respiratory system 21,58 , toxicity caused by nano-scaled PMs is worth further study due to the unique properties of nanomaterials. Recently, several pieces of research focused on the ferroptotic cell death caused by nano-scaled PMs.…”

A Comparative Assessment of On-Site Application Effects of Mine Dust Prevention and Control Technology

“…Given the aforementioned, many existing literature (Chen et al, 2019;Csavina et al, 2012;Rees & Murray, 2020;Sarver, Keleş, & Afrouz, 2021;Vanka et al, 2022) have tried to examine the mechanisms of industrial mine dust, dust-associated hazards as well as mine dust control and prevention mechanisms, and have proposed new prevention and control methods for mine dust prevention. However, these technologies still have limitations (Kong, Li, Yang, Liu, & Yan, 2017).…”