Pneumoconiosis is a general term given to any lung disease caused by dusts that are breathed in and then deposited deep in the lungs causing damage. Pneumoconiosis is usually considered an occupational lung disease, and includes asbestosis, silicosis and coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), also known as Black Lung Disease (www.lung.org). CWP develops in individuals, almost exclusively miners, who are exposed to mixed dust containing coal, silica, kaolin, and mica. Development of CWP generally requires at least 20 years of exposure and depends on various factors including concentration of coal dust, mine configuration, type of coal, mining methods, personal protective measures, and the proportion of other mineral dust contamination.Meyer,A.C …show more content…
Inhaling coal dust leads to black lung disease, which means that it is an occupational disease. Black lung disease comes in two types: simple (coal workers' pneumoconiosis) and complicated (progressive massive fibrosis). In either form, black lung disease is an interstitial lung condition. This means that an external substance causes inflammation in the air sacs inside the lungs. As the tissue develops scar tissue in response, the lung gradually gets less and less flexible, as stated by the American Lung Association. In many cases, it takes years for symptoms of black lung disease to appear; however, the coal dust eventually comes to rest inside the lung and makes the lung stiffen. As this process accelerates, it becomes harder to breathe. Even after the patient stops working in an environment with coal dust, the disease gets progressively worse. Potential complications include lung cancer, tuberculosis, respiratory failure and heart failure on the right side. As of 2015, there is no cure or treatment, according to the American Lung Association. SYMPTOMS OF BLACK LUNG
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, better known as COPD, is a disease that affects a person’s ability to breathe normal. COPD is a combination of two major lung diseases: emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Bronchitis affects the bronchioles and emphysema affects the alveoli.
One of the biggest problems with working in a mine is the the health risks you are taking when stepping into a mine and staying there anywhere from 10-16 hours of the day. Miners of the Gilded Age, needless to say, did not live very long at all. Some of the diseases they contracted were black lung, Silicosis, and COPD. Coal Miner’s Pneumoconiosis, more commonly referred to as Black Lung, is caused by inhaling respirable coal mine dust. Silicosis is a more specific, but yet still commonly found in coal miners, version of Black Lung caused by inhaling respirable crystalline silica, such as Quartz, a major component in rocks. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, or COPD, is still common today in people who don’t even work in mines. COPD is a progressive disease that increases airway
A pneumothorax is defined as “the presence of air or gas in the plural cavity which can impair oxygenation and/or ventilation” (Daley, 2014). The development of a pneumothorax to a tension pneumothorax can be caused from positive pressure ventilation.
Black lung is the legal term for a man-made, occupational lung disease that is contracted by prolonged breathing of coalmine dust. Some call it miner’s asthma, silicosis, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or black lung. However, they are all dust diseases with the same symptoms.
Chronic bronchitis is a disorder that causes inflammation to the airway, mainly the bronchial tubules. It produces a chronic cough that lasts three consecutive months for more than two successive years (Vijayan,2013). Chronic Bronchitis is a member of the COPD family and is prominently seen in cigarette smokers. Other factors such as air pollutants, Asbestos, and working in coal mines contributes to inflammation. Once the irritant comes in contact with the mucosa of the bronchi it alters the composition causing hyperplasia of the glands and producing excessive sputum (Viayan,2013). Goblet cells also enlarge to contribute to the excessive secretion of sputum. This effects the cilia that carry out the mechanism of trapping foreign bodies to allow it to be expelled in the sputum, which are now damaged by the irritant making it impossible for the person to clear their airway. Since the mechanism of airway clearance is ineffective, the secretion builds up a thickened wall of the bronchioles causing constriction and increasing the work of breathing. The excessive build up of mucous could set up pneumonia. The alveoli are also damaged enabling the macrophages to eliminate bacteria putting the patient at risk for acquiring an infection.
When someone works in an environment where they are exposed to chemicals, dust, fumes and molds, they are more likely to develop asthma. Along with asthma, constant exposure to chemicals and vapors can cause serious lung problems that can develop into more serious lung problems.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, also known as Black Lung Disease, is a unique form of pneumoconiosis and silicosis. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a respiratory disease that affects the lungs caused by the inhalation of silica dust causing inflammation in the lungs.The crystalline silica dust that causes this disease is most commonly referred to as quartz, but it is also found in sandstone, granite, slate, coal, and pure silica sand. There are three types of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis: chronic, accelerated, and acute. This is an incurable disease, but its symptoms can be treated.
Cells are generally supposed to go through a cycle, where they grow, divide, then die. Lung cancer cells however grow and divide, but never die, which is called apoptosis (Crosta). Lung cancer is by far the most deadliest cancer (Marks) because sign and symptoms do not appear early enough for you to get screened (Knowing). There are signs and symptoms that may appear but it all depends on where the cancer is located in the lungs. Symptoms may include: pain in the chest, intense coughing, difficultly breathing and swallowing, raspy sounds while breathing, and or coughing up blood (Crosta). If the cancer has spread to any other places, symptoms might include: fatigue, unexplained weight loss, weakness, swelling in the neck of face, or pain in the joints (Crosta). The reason many people get diagnosed with lung cancer is because they inhale dangerous carcinogens. Those carcinogens damage many cell’s DNA that “help” out cells so that they can grow into cancer. Things like tobacco, radiation, sun and car exhaust fumes are known as carcinogens (Crosta). Smoking, of course, causes cancer too. Smoking puts smokers at a higher risk than non-smokers. The more cigarettes you smoke a day and the earlier someone started smoking, the greater risk of them being diagnosed with this cancer (Lung Cancer). Secondhand smoke can be damaging and harmful just like regular smoking. The smoke
Occupational disease is defined as the disease that arises from the situations to which a specific type of worker is exposed, and the disease must be acquired as a natural incident of a particular occupation. Asbestos which was used extensively till the early 1980s across main industries is one such agent which can cause severe health hazards to the workers that are exposed to it. Although almost everyone is exposed to it; as it is present in low levels in air, water, and soil, the health effects are usually only seen in people exposed to it for a longer duration of time mainly at a job site (Asbestos Exposure and Cancer Risk).
Inadequate care and storage of the waste from the coal can affect the ecosystem around it and the creatures living there. The pollution from one coal mine can affect many places through the water and the air making it more dangerous to human
A worker's lungs may react more severely to silica sand that has been freshly fractured (sawed, hammered, or treated in a way that produces airborne dust) [Vallyathan et al. 1988]. This factor may contribute to the development of acute and accelerated forms of silicosis.
In her book Coal A Human History, Barbara Freese states "The mundane mineral that built our global economyand even today powers our electrical plantshas also caused death, disease, and environmental destruction" (front flap) Today, coal provides for more than 55% of the electricity generated in the U.S. (Cullen, Robert Vol.272) Coal miners have had one of the most dangerous jobs in history before government regulation. Many miners had to work underground for 10 + hours a day and 6 days a week(Cobb, James "Coal") The number of deaths per year is the equivalent of a Titanic going down in the nation's coal fields each year (Turkington, Carol) According to James Cobb from the World Book Online Reference Center mine safety involves four main types of problems including accidents involving machinery, roof and rib failures, accumulations of gases and concentrations of coal dust.
What is pulmonary sequestration? Pulmonary sequestration is a rare abnormality that develops before we are born. In this condition, a portion of the lung is separated off from the rest of the lung. The lung tissue has no direct contact with the tracheobronchial tree and gets the blood supply from the systemic vessels. The term sequestration means that it is not connected to the remaining lung or “ It's by itself”. It creates an issue with the airway and compressing the lungs (if the mass is huge). In 1946, Pryce first dubbed the condition “pulmonary sequestration,” which can be divided into two types. It is a rare lung development condition, which only accounts for .15% to 6.4% of all pulmonary abnormalities. Pulmonary sequestration can
When coal gets burned they start to release harmful dangerous toxins such as mercury, lead and arsenic that will then escape into the air. It also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. These emissions increase the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere and lead to global warming.
Asbestosis is caused by an inhalation of asbestos fibers that become coated by a protein that is high in iron content. The fibers that are formed are considered asbestos bodies (Crowley, 2013). A patient’s sputum can reveal the asbestos bodies that have been inhaled through cotton like fibers, coal dust, and fungal spores depending on a person’s previous environmental exposure (Crowley, 2013). My patient has previously been exposed to asbestos in the past. Symptoms of asbestosis do not appear until much later on in a person’s life after they have been exposed to asbestos fibers (LeMone, Burkey, Bauldoff, & Gubrud, 2015).