Instead, regulations centered on coal dust, a separate hazard created by crushing or pulverizing coal rock that also contributes to black lung. Silica dust is 20 times more toxic than coal dust and causes severe forms of black lung disease even after a few years of exposure. An estimated one in five tenured miners in Central Appalachia has black lung disease; one in 20 has the most disabling form of black lung. "That’s just nuts,” said Dr. Carl Werntz, a West Virginia physician who conducts black lung examinations and described cases as “skyrocketing." In the Upper Big Branch mine, 71% of the 24 miners who received autopsies were found to have black lung.

Source: ABC News July 24, 2023 06:59 UTC