Major Issues in Miner Health Stephanie Joyce Abstract
As recently as the last few decades, thousands of miners died in explosions, roof collapses, fires, and floods each year. Lung disease caused by inhaling mineral dusts was ubiquitous. Miners worked virtually unprotected, and were often treated as expendable bodies fulfilling critical roles in this important industry, which in the United States comprises about 5% of the gross domestic product. Worldwide, mining is one of the most dangerous occupations relative to other industries, with 15,000 fatal accidents annually, equal to 8% of total work-related fatalities. Mining also causes widespread environmental damage, including pollution of waters with acids and toxic metals, air pollution from diesel machinery emissions, destruction of ecosystems, and defacement of landscapes. Increasingly stringent health, safety, and environmental regulations, together with rapid technological advances, have resulted in enormous improvements in mining-related human and environmental health in the United States and other industrialized nations. Often, though, technological solutions have reduced certain health risks only to raise new questions about environmental and social issues. Meanwhile, lax regulation in many developing countries still leaves millions of miners at risk for mining-related disease and death.
The full version of this article is available for free in HTML format. |
