Morbidity and Mortality among Underground Coal Miners

Background: Although often hidden from the public’s view, morbidity and mortality from coal mining remain important public health issues in the United States and internationally. The research goals of this project were to examine the contribution of dust exposures to mortality among underground coal miners in the U.S. and to describe the occurrence of respiratory disease among Ukrainian coal miners. Methods: In the U.S., vital status and cause(s) of death were determined for a cohort of 9,033 miners after an average 37 years of follow-up. Mortality was evaluated with life-table analysis; associations with dust exposures were examined using Cox proportional hazard regression. In Ukraine, cross-sectional health surveys were conducted among stratified random samples of working and former coal miners. Sample weights were developed and used for all analysis to account for the sampling design and non-response. Results: U.S.: Among 5,925 deaths, excess mortality was seen for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (SMR = 1.11; 95% CI 0.99, 1.24), pneumoconiosis (SMR=77.68; 95% CI 70.24, 85.69), and lung cancer (SMR=1.08; 95% CI 1.00, 1.18). Coal-mine dust (CMD) exposure was a significant predictor of non-malignant respiratory disease (NMRD) and lung cancer mortality (hazard ratio for lung cancer given mean cohort exposure= 1.70; 95% CI 1.02, 2.83). Ukraine: Respiratory symptom prevalence was higher among former compared with current miners (shortness of breath: 35.6% vs. 5.1%; chronic bronchitis: 18.1% vs. 13.9%). A significant exposure-response relationship was seen with respiratory symptoms in former miners with years mining and among current miners with years working at the face. Conclusions: Our findings expand upon previous results showing that coal mining puts workers at increased risk for morbidity and mortality from NMRD. A novel finding from the U.S. study was the increased risk of lung cancer mortality and that the risk increased with CMD exposure. The findings on disease occurrence in Ukrainian miners are the first published in the Western literature. A healthy worker effect was seen both studies, which may have downwardly biased our estimates of disease prevalence and mortality

Does exposure to coal dust prevent or cause lung cancer?

Does exposure to coal dust prevent or cause lung cancer

Supplementary Tables 1-3 from Differential and Joint Effects of Metformin and Statins on Overall Survival of Elderly Patients with Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: A Large Population-Based Study

Supplementary Tables S1, S2, S3</p

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), Epigenetic Age, and DNA Methylation: A Cross-Sectional Study of Firefighters

Supplemental Table S1. Serum PFAS Concentrations (geometric means, ng/mL) by Categorical Demographic Variables Supplemental Table S2. Significantly Differentially Methylated CpG Sites by PFAS Seum Concentration (at q-value Supplemental Table S3. Significantly Differentially Methylated Regions by PFAS Exposure Supplemental Table S4. Pathways Enriched for Differential Methylation by PFAS Exposure Supplemental Table S5. Association between Serum PFAS Concentrations (ln-transformed ng/mL) and Cell Type Estimates </div