Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Journal of Industrial Medicine logoLink to British Journal of Industrial Medicine
. 1987 Oct;44(10):661–672. doi: 10.1136/oem.44.10.661

Exposure to respirable coalmine dust and incidence of progressive massive fibrosis.

J F Hurley 1, W P Alexander 1, D J Hazledine 1, M Jacobsen 1, W M Maclaren 1
PMCID: PMC1007898  PMID: 3676119

Abstract

Data gathered since 1953 concerning more than 30,000 coalminers while employed at 24 collieries in England, Scotland, and Wales have been used to study the incidence of progressive massive fibrosis (PMF) in working coalminers. Results refer to 52,264 approximately five year intervals when the miners were at risk of an attack of PMF. One objective of the present study was to describe how the five year attack rate of PMF was related to miners' age, colliery, and simple pneumoconiosis category at the start of the periods at risk. The main objective was to estimate the relation between exposure to dust and incidence of PMF and to examine how this relation changes in the presence of coalworkers' simple pneumoconiosis (CWSP). Film readings, in some cases based on clinical assessments only, showed 462 attacks of PMF over the five year risk periods. The men concerned had experienced higher cumulative exposures to dust than their colleagues of similar age at the same collieries, a result found at 65 of the 68 age colliery groups where an attack had occurred. The association was highly significant statistically. Simple pneumoconiosis clearly predisposed to PMF, with five year attack rates of 13.9%, 12.5%, 4.4%, and 0.2% among men with categories 3, 2, 1, and 0 respectively at the start of the risk periods. Once simple pneumoconiosis category 1 or more had been attained, those with higher cumulative exposure to dust were not at greater risk of an attack of PMF than other men with the same CWSP category. Among most miners, those with category 0, however, the risks of an attack of PMF increased clearly with exposure. Risks of an attack were higher among older men irrespective of CWSP category. In addition, there were large colliery specific variations in incidence related to variations in the carbon content of the coal though not fully explained by them. It is concluded that cumulative exposure to respirable dust is the decisive central factor in the development of PMF. Its effect is primarily in causing simple pneumoconiosis category 1 or higher which predisposes to PMF, though the dust related incidence among men with category 0 is not negligible in view of the large numbers at risk. Continuation of the policy to minimise dust concentrations underground therefore seems the only secure strategy to limit, and eventually eliminate, PMF.

Full text

PDF
668

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Atuhaire L. K., Campbell M. J., Cochrane A. L., Jones M., Moore F. Mortality of men in the Rhondda Fach 1950-80. Br J Ind Med. 1985 Nov;42(11):741–745. doi: 10.1136/oem.42.11.741. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Berry G. The analysis of mortality by the subject-years method. Biometrics. 1983 Mar;39(1):173–184. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. CARPENTER R. G., COCHRANE A. L., GILSON J. C., HIGGINS I. T. The relationship between ventilatory capacity and simple pneumoconiosis in coalworkers; the effect of population selection. Br J Ind Med. 1956 Jul;13(3):166–176. doi: 10.1136/oem.13.3.166. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. CASE R. A., LEA A. J. Mustard gas poisoning, chronic bronchitis, and lung cancer; an investigation into the possibility that poisoning by mustard gas in the 1914-18 war might be a factor in the production of neoplasia. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1955 Apr;9(2):62–72. doi: 10.1136/jech.9.2.62. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. COCHRANE A. L., MOORE F., THOMAS J. The radiographic progression of progressive massive fibrosis. Tubercle. 1961 Mar;42:72–77. doi: 10.1016/s0041-3879(61)80022-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. COCHRANE A. L. The attack rate of progressive massive fibrosis. Br J Ind Med. 1962 Jan;19:52–64. doi: 10.1136/oem.19.1.52. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. FAY J. W., ASHFORD J. R. The study of observer variation in the radiological classification of pneumoconiosis. Br J Ind Med. 1960 Oct;17:279–292. doi: 10.1136/oem.17.4.279. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hurley J. F., Burns J., Copland L., Dodgson J., Jacobsen M. Coalworkers' simple pneumoconiosis and exposure to dust at 10 British coalmines. Br J Ind Med. 1982 May;39(2):120–127. doi: 10.1136/oem.39.2.120. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Maclaren W. M., Soutar C. A. Progressive massive fibrosis and simple pneumoconiosis in ex-miners. Br J Ind Med. 1985 Nov;42(11):734–740. doi: 10.1136/oem.42.11.734. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Miller B. G., Jacobsen M. Dust exposure, pneumoconiosis, and mortality of coalminers. Br J Ind Med. 1985 Nov;42(11):723–733. doi: 10.1136/oem.42.11.723. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Muenz L. R., Rubinstein L. V. Markov models for covariate dependence of binary sequences. Biometrics. 1985 Mar;41(1):91–101. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rogan J. M., Attfield M. D., Jacobsen M., Rae S., Walker D. D., Walton W. H. Role of dust in the working environment in development of chronic bronchitis in British coal miners. Br J Ind Med. 1973 Jul;30(3):217–226. doi: 10.1136/oem.30.3.217. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Shennan D. H., Washington J. S., Thomas D. J., Dick J. A., Kaplan Y. S., Bennett J. G. Factors predisposing to the development of progressive massive fibrosis in coal miners. Br J Ind Med. 1981 Nov;38(4):321–326. doi: 10.1136/oem.38.4.321. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Soter N. A., Wasserman S. I., Austen K. F. Cold urticaria: release into the circulation of histamine and eosinophil chemotactic factor of anaphylaxis during cold challenge. N Engl J Med. 1976 Mar 25;294(13):687–690. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197603252941302. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Soutar C. A., Hurley J. F. Relation between dust exposure and lung function in miners and ex-miners. Br J Ind Med. 1986 May;43(5):307–320. doi: 10.1136/oem.43.5.307. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Industrial Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES