Erratum to “Mortality Among U.S. Underground Coal Miners: A 23-Year Follow-Up (Vol 51, PG 231, 2008)

Details

• Personal Author:
  Attfield MD ; Kuempel, Eileen D.
• Description:
  Two errors were reported by the authors of ''Mortality Among U.S. Underground Coal Miners: A 23-Year Follow- Up,'' published in the AJIM (51:231-245, 2008). First, the column labels were inadvertently switched for the smoking groups in Table X. The coefficients listed for current smokers actually pertain to ex-smokers and vice versa. Second, the wrong graph was mistakenly provided for Figure 4. The published Figure 4 and accompanying text pertain to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) deaths instead of nonviolent causes as stated and described in the article. The information presented is correct for COPD, but is wrongly ascribed to nonviolent causes. The correct discussion on nonviolent causes is as follows: The survival curves are shown in the corrected Figure 4. The Cox proportional hazard model predicts 511 deaths from nonviolent causes over the ensuing 24 years among nonsmokers with no coal mine dust exposure, living in the West Appalachian region, and of age 58 at start of follow-up. Prior exposure for 40 years before age 58 at the current U.S. underground coal mine dust standard of 2 mg/m3 is predicted to lead to 59 extra nonviolent deaths (or 11.5% excess). By reducing the coal mine dust standard to 1 mg/m3 this excess could be halved (to 5.7% excess). Exposure to 3.75 mg/m3 for 40 years and having progressive massive fibrosis (PMF) at the start of follow-up is associated with an excess of 180 additional nonviolent deaths (or a 35% greater probability of dying within the 24 years of follow-up compared to those without dust exposure and no PMF). The authors regret these errors, and hope that these corrections clarify any misunderstanding. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Coal Coal Mining Dust Lung Lung Diseases Mining Morbidity Mortality Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety

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• Keywords:
  Airborne-particles Breathing Coal-dust Coal-miners Coal-mining Coal-workers Coal-workers-pneumoconiosis Dust-exposure Morbidity-rates Mortality-data Mortality-rates Occupational-exposure Quantitative-analysis Respiratory-system-disorders Surveillance

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• 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:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies ; EID - Education and Information Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  53
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036782
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2010 May; 53(5):550
• Contact Point Address:
  M.D. Attfield, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, NIOSH, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV, 26505
• Email:
  mdal@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing ; Mining ; Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1bf701109ca8e0a82a95758b57378c5c2ac73f61299d06f84b323eb09532afb68af60084dc8407f7ac68b11f3b45f584d432c4fe2c430ff6826d8e9c86265cdc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188062/cdc_188062_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 37.19 KB ]