Officials for the federal agency’s public outreach initiative, the Enhanced Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program, said the focus on the areas of southern West Virginia, western Virginia and eastern Kentucky was in response to a “well-documented cluster of serious disease” at operations with less than 50 workers.
The first screening visits, provided through NIOSH’s state of the art mobile testing unit, are scheduled for the week of April 15 in central and southern West Virginia.
“Early detection of black lung not only helps scientists identify trends in cases but is critical to protecting miners from advancing stages of the disease that are life-threatening,” NIOSH director Dr John Howard said.
“NIOSH is committed to a screening program that is free for the workers, confidential and effective.”
The testing, which takes about 25 minutes, includes a work history questionnaire, a chest X-ray and spirometry testing.
Miners will have the opportunity to have their blood pressure checked as well.
“NIOSH provides the individual miner with the results of their own screening – by law each person’s results are confidential,” agency officials confirmed.
“No individual information is publicly disclosed, including the names of participating miners.”
Black lung, while serious, is a preventable lung disease caused by breathing in respirable coal dust.
According to NIOSH research statistics, the prevalence of CWP among long-term underground miners who participated in chest X-ray screening decreased between the 1970s and the 1990s but a recent increase led to the mobile unit being deployed to provide workers with early detection.
“Currently, the prevalence of CWP among US coal miners is increasing in mines of all sizes, while CWP and the more serious disease of progressive massive fibrosis are much more prevalent among miners from underground mines with fewer than 50 workers,” NIOSH said.
“This prevalence is also more pronounced in miners throughout eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia and western Virginia.
“Therefore, those miners are being offered this enhanced screening over the next year.”
For more information on CWP and where the mobile unit will be headed, visit the ECWHSP website at www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/surveillance/ORDS/ecwhsp.html.
