Special Issue on mine dust research:health effects and control technologies

摘要

Coal remains one of the principal sources of energy for the world.During the extraction,transport,and processing of coal in underground and surface mining operations,sig-nificant amounts of airborne respirable dusts can be gen-erated and released to the working space.Chronic exposure to coal dusts puts the miners at risk for various lung dis-eases,including coal workers'pneumoconiosis,emphy-sema,silicosis,and chronic bronchitis.Apart from the miners'lung disease,the coal mine dusts also potentially increase the risk of mine explosion which has been rec-ognized as one of the most severe hazards in underground coal mine.