MINERAL INTERACTIONS AND HEALTH IMPACTS OF COAL DUST EXPOSURE

摘要

Recent tragedies in both China and the U.S. have highlighted the dangers of coal mining. This is especially true for China, a country that produces about 35% of the world's coal and officially reports more than 6,000 deaths from accidents annually, about 80% of the world's total deaths in coalmines. Coal mining is considered to be the most deadly job in China. There are approximately 10 million coal miners in China, many miners working in dust filled environments both in underground and open cast mines. Exposure to the dust may take a toll that rivals the deaths from coal mine accidents. An estimated 600,000 miners are suffering from coal workers pneumoconiosis (CWP), a progressive, debilitating respiratory problem caused by inhalation of coal dust. The number of Chinese coal miners suffering from CWP is estimated to increase by about 70,000 each year. In the U.S., CWP deaths accounted for half of the pneumoconiosis deaths during the 10-year period from 1990 to 1999, outnumbering deaths associated with other types of pneumoconiosis. The health risks highlight the need for surveillance and screening programs carefully monitoring early adverse effects of coal dust exposure.