Monitoring and Sampling Approaches to Assess Underground Coal Mine Dust Exposures (2018) / Chapter Skim
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comprises the size fraction of airborne particles in underground mines that can be inhaled by miners and deposited in the distal airways and gas-exchange region of the lung.1 Occupational exposure to RCMD has long been associated with lung diseases common to the coal mining industry, including coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) , also known as "black lung disease." In the 1960s, this disease was found in more than 30 percent of coal miners who had worked at least 25 years in underground coal mines (Figure S-1)
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6Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Moni tors (79 Fed.
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The primary focus of this report is an examination of monitoring and sampling approaches for the control of RCMD and miners' exposure. As dust-generating processes in mining have intensified over the past several decades associated health hazards might increase if there have been unanticipated changes in the characteristics of RCMD exposures that are important to the risk of coal mine dust lung diseases.
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EFFICACY OF CURRENT MONITORING AND SAMPLING IN UNDERGROUND MINES IN THE UNITED STATES Effective exposure control is a key means of addressing the occurrence of CWP in coal miners, which continues to be an important and complex problem. Effective monitoring technologies and sampling approaches would provide information on not only the RCMD mass concentrations for meeting regulatory requirements, but also the RCMD particle characteristics (such as composition)
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However, it has not resulted in attainment of the ultimate goal of the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, which is to eliminate such diseases. Given current uncertainties about the cause of increase in disease prevalence and severity, the committee noted the possibility that high rates of operator compliance with the 2014 dust rule requirements may not guarantee that RCMD exposures will be controlled adequately or that future disease rates will decline.
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Since around the year 2000, an increase in prevalence and severity of CWP points to a need for a more in-depth understanding of risk factors, some of which may not be captured by measuring the RCMD mass concentration. The potential role of exposure to respirable crystalline silica warrants greater focus on developing improved sampling and monitoring techniques.
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Those commonalities point to potential opportunities for harmonizing monitoring data collected in different countries, including RCMD and silica content. Additionally, a more complete understanding of international approaches to medical surveillance for coal mine dust diseases, including strengths and limitations, would lead to opportunities for improved understanding of the relationships between RCMD exposure and disease prevalence and ensuring that monitoring approaches are targeting the most important aspects of RCMD exposure.
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RECOMMENDATIONS The committee identified important information gaps regarding monitoring and sampling protocols for controlling miners' RCMD exposures. Research and development efforts are needed for better understanding of relationships between miners' exposures and disease, including studying effects of changes in mining practices, improving monitoring approaches, and increasing participation in medical surveillance programs.
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In addition, the assessment should characterize and quantify im portant source contributions to airborne RCMD, including rock dusting and extraction of rock strata adjacent to the mined coal seam. To the extent possible, NIOSH should as sess how RCMD characteristics have changed over time and consider making provisions for tracking temporal trends in the future.
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Reliable information on RCMD exposures in underground coal mines is crucial for predicting, reducing, and preventing mine workers' disease risks. Additionally, medical surveillance of miners, combined with comprehensive exposure assessment, are important tools for understanding disease trends and risk factors and assessing the efficacy of exposure reduction efforts.
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