Contributions of Dust Exposure and Cigarette Smoking to Emphysema Severity in U.S. Coal Miners

Details

• Personal Author:
  Green FHY ; Kuempel, Eileen D. ; Smith RJ ; Vallyathan V ; Wheeler, Matthew W.
• Description:
  Rationale: Previous studies have shown associations between dust exposure or lung burden and emphysema in coal miners, although the separate contributions of various predictors have not been clearly demonstrated. Objectives: To quantitatively evaluate the relationship between cumulative exposure to respirable coal mine dust, cigarette smoking, and other factors on emphysema severity. Methods: The study group included 722 autopsied U.S. coal miners and non-miners. Data on work history, smoking, race, and age at death were obtained from medical records and questionnaire completed by next-of-kin. Emphysema was classified and graded using a standardized schema. Job-specific mean concentrations of respirable coal mine dust were matched with work histories to estimate cumulative exposure. Relationships between various metrics of dust exposure (including cumulative exposure and lung dust burden) and emphysema severity were investigated in weighted least squares regression models. Measurements and Main Results: Emphysema severity was significantly elevated in coal miners compared to non-miners, among both ever and never smokers (p<0.0001). Cumulative exposure to respirable coal mine dust or coal dust retained in the lungs were each significant predictors of emphysema severity (p<0.0001), after accounting for cigarette smoking, age at death, and race. The contributions of coal mine dust exposure and cigarette smoking were similar in predicting emphysema severity averaged over this cohort. Conclusions: Coal dust exposure, cigarette smoking, age, and race are significant and additive predictors of emphysema severity in this study. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coal Demography Dust Mining Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Smokers Tobacco Products
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Occupational Exposure Autopsy Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease Cigarette-smoking Coal-dust Demographic-characteristics Mine-workers Miners Mining-industry Pulmonary-system-disorders Regression Analysis Respirable-dust Respiratory-system-disorders Severity Of Illness Index Smoking Statistical-analysis

  More +
• ISSN:
  1073-449X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  EID - Education and Information Division ; HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  257-264
• Volume:
  180
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20035401
• Citation:
  Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2009 Aug; 180(3):257-264
• Contact Point Address:
  Eileen D. Kuempel , Ph.D., National Institute for Occupational Safe ty and Health, 4676 Columbia Parkway, M.S. C-15, Cincinnati, OH 45226-1998
• Email:
  ekuempel@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing ; Mining ; Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c05f79f19a932e0bc17c855a3ebd21b11751aee2e01d79f46091e62c829f983350e6448a4585800006d31edd68cfea424ecf2aba1f2828a1c276cdf5665a7cfe
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187270/cdc_187270_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 633.49 KB ]