Coal Miners in West Virginia
Credit: Common Dreams

After reaching a low point in the late 1990s, new studies are showing that black lung disease has made a startling resurgence, especially among coal workers in the central Appalachian region.

More than 10 percent of America’s coal miners with 25 or more years of experience have black lung disease, also known as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis. In central Appalachia — areas of West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee — it’s even higher. More than 20 percent of coal workers in the area with the same amount of tenure have been diagnosed with the disease, according to a new study by experts at the federal government’s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The dramatic increase in cases of black lung disease is occurring at the same time that the Trump administration is seeking ways weaken coal dust rules that protect coal miners from the disease — a move that would reduce costs for coal companies, which have been strong financial backers of Trump.

Black lung is a common term for several […]