Pneumoconiosis Mortality and Morbidity Trends in the United States, 1968–2004

Details

• Personal Author:
  Attfield MD ; Bang KM ; Mazurek JM ; Petsonk, Edward L.
• Description:
  Objective: To describe trends in pneumoconiosis in the United States during 1968-2004. Methods: The National Center for Health Statistics multiple cause-of-death records were used to derive numbers of deaths and death rates for asbestosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), and silicosis. Morbidity data on CWP from a large national worker monitoring program were used to derive CWP prevalence defined as presence on the chest radiograph of small opacities category 1/0 or greater or large opacities, as determined by at least two National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) readers. Results: Overall, annual asbestosis deaths increased over 19-fold from 78 in 1968 to 1,493 in 2000 and then declined to 1,470 in 2004, due mostly to a drop in asbestosis deaths among those aged < / = 74; deaths continue to increase among individuals aged > / =75. Silicosis deaths decreased nearly 6-fold from 1,065 in 1968 to 178 in 1998; no substantial change was observed thereafter in all age groups (mean 166 deaths/year for 1999-2004 overall, with a mean of 4 deaths/year among individuals aged 15-44 years). CWP deaths peaked in 1972 (n=2,910), and then declined more than 4-fold to 703 in 2004. After 1998, the number of CWP deaths continued to decline among those aged >/= 65, but appeared to increase among younger individuals (15-44 years old). CWP prevalence in working coal miners with 20 years of tenure increased nearly 3-fold from 3.2% in 1995-1999 to 8.3% in 2005-2006. Conclusions: The slight decline from 2000 through 2004 in asbestosis deaths suggests that asbestosis mortality has peaked in the U.S. Mortality data for silicosis indicate a continuing occupational risk, even in younger workers. The increase in both CWP mortality and CWP morbidity suggests that past gains in disease prevention are being compromised. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aluminum Silicates Asbestos Dust Inorganic Chemicals Mining Morbidity Mortality Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Silicon Compounds Silicon Dioxide Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Asbestos-dust Asbestos-fibers Asbestos-industry Asbestos-mining Asbestos-workers Morbidity-rates Mortality-rates Mortality-surveys Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Silica-dusts Silicate-miners Silicates Silicon-compounds Statistical-analysis Surveillance Work-environment Work-practices Worker-health Workplace-studies

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• Publisher:
  Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034849
• Citation:
  Proceedings of XVIIIth World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, June 29, 2008 - July 2, 2008, Seoul, Korea. Seoul, Korea: Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, 2008 Jun; :1-5
• CAS Registry Number:
  Asbestos (CAS RN 1332-21-4) ; Silicon (CAS RN 7440-21-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of XVIIIth World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, June 29, 2008 - July 2, 2008, Seoul, Korea
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e6d58dcb1ae330b6ea79bd9139023ccd6d7632c2c67a6ade068e1aaa81f8e0dec48cec809c3480e85f67e391b1ff19faacbc0a89450a15aa92fde543551d72b0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186903/cdc_186903_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 494.91 KB ]