Occupational noise-induced hearing loss is the second most self-reported occupational illness or injury in the United States. Among coal miners, more than 90% of the population reports a hearing deficit by age 55. In this formative evaluation, focus groups were conducted with coal miners in Appalachia to ascertain whether miners perceive hearing loss as a major health risk and if so, what would...

OBJECTIVES To understand the variations of selenium (Se) concentration relative to changes in occupational exposure to coal dust, taking into account age and changes in smoking habits in miners surveyed twice, in 1990 and 1994. To better understand the relation of Se concentration with glutathione peroxidase activities (GSH-Px) in these miners. METHODS In 1994, blood samples were obtained fro...

The causative organisms and susceptibility factors were compared in two groups of individuals with tinea pedis, coal miners (234) and dermatological outpatients (244). Trichophyton rubrum was the commonest dermatophyte in both groups, being isolated from 71% of infected miners and 77% of infected outpatients. The incidence of atopy in the outpatients, but not the miners, was significantly highe...

OBJECTIVES To describe the prevalence of lung function abnormality and coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) by mine size among underground coal miners in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. METHODS During 2005-2012, 4491 miners completed spirometry and chest radiography as part of a health surveillance programme. Spirometry was interpreted according to American Thoracic Society and European R...

healthy hire effect (hhe) is considered as an epidemiological phenomenon, complicating the assessment of a true cause - effect relationship between occupational exposure and health status of workers. the current study was aimed at identification and elimination of hhe in the risk assessment of arterial hypertension (ah) in coal miners. overall, 1553 miners, working in west siberia, were enrolle...

Observations of the movements of air in underground passages have a long and fascinating history. Between 4000 and 1200 BC, European miners dug tunnels into chalk deposits searching for flint. Archaeological investigations at Grimes Graves in the south of England have shown that these early flint miners built brushwood fires at the working faces—presumably to weaken the rock. However, those Neo...

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that are associated with the occurrence of small irregular opacities in the chest radiographs of coalminers, and whether the lung function of miners with irregular opacities differed from that of miners with small rounded opacities, a mixture of small rounded and irregular opacities, or an absence of opacities. A subsample of 6166 coalminer...

We aimed to investigate the short-term correlation between blood lead levels and oxidative stress generation in coal miners. The study involved 94 male coal miners from the Velenje Coal mine, arranged into four groups: three groups according to the number of consecutive working days, and a fourth control group. Miners who worked for three consecutive days had higher blood levels of lead and 8-i...