Black lung disease is the scourge of miners who work in underground coal mines. Breathing coal dust can cause severe scarring of the lungs, turning lung tissue literally black – and choking off air until the victims can’t breathe. There’s been a recent big spike in the occurrence of a particularly virulent form of black lung disease, and it’s affecting many younger miners.
Doctors have theories on what might be causing the recent resurgence of black lung. One theory holds that miners in recent years have been cutting through rock with high levels of silica in order to get to underground coal in areas where thick coal seams were previously mined, which might be to blame for the recent black lung epidemic.
Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Dr. Dan Doyle, a founder of the New River Health Center, a black lung clinic in West Virginia’s coal country. Dr. Doyle, who’s worked at the clinic for the past 40 years, explains what black lung disease is, how it’s thought to be caused, and how the Trump administration is worsening the crisis.
For more information on the New River Health Center – Black Lung Clinic, visit newriverhealthwv.com/breathing-center-black-lung
