Dust Monitor May Stop Black Lung Disease

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD : Associated Press Writer
Jun 26, 2003 : 8:23 am ET

WASHINGTON -- Coal miners appear to have support from the Bush administration for a dust-detecting monitor, worn on belts, that they hope can help to eradicate black lung disease.

Under pressure from miners and operators, the administration decided this week to delay a final rule to regulate coal dust in mines until the device is tested further. A new rule could direct the use of the device.

The monitor provides continuous, real-time information about how much dust a miner is breathing in.

Under the current system, bulky monitors that check for dust in the mines have to be mailed to a government lab for analysis. Often a miner does not know how dusty his work environment was on a given shift for weeks -- too late to fix the problem.

"It's going to empower them to do something about their dust exposure," said Ed Thimons, a branch chief with the government's National Institute for Occupational Safety Health. "It will be the first major advance in dust sampling technology in over 30 years."

Thimons is part of the team that this month took the dust monitors, made by Albany, N.Y.-based Rupprecht and Patashnick Co. Inc., out of the lab and into a West Virginia coal mine for testing. Further tests are continuing this week and are said to be going well.

"I am totally convinced it will change the way miners are exposed to coal dust in this country," said Joe Main, the top safety expert at the United Mine Workers of America.

Miners who use the monitors will be able to insist on better ventilation or other dust controls, he said.

Breathable dust in underground mines is the primary cause of black lung, a debilitating respiratory disease that from 1968 through 1990 killed more than 55,000 miners and still kills about 1,000 miners annually.

Coal operators also appear enthusiastic and, along with the union, had urged the administration to write regulations governing the monitor's use.

The operators believe the monitors could cut their worker compensation costs by improving miners' health, help them avoid getting cited by the government for too much dust and reduce the need to sample dust levels and test dust-control measures.

The administration issued its proposed rule concerning mine dust this spring. Had it been finalized in the coming months, as originally planned, it would have taken away the coal operator's responsibility for inspecting mines for dust and left that to the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration. But the proposal still would have required coal companies to conduct regular checks of their dust-control technologies and plans.

Both industry and union officials had criticized the administration for putting forth its rule regarding the dust sampling program without waiting for complete tests on the monitors.

"There's the potential of them to become the core element of a new dust sampling program," said Bruce Watzman, vice president for safety and health at the industry-backed National Mining Association.

David Lauriski, the assistant secretary in charge of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, said the agency initially went ahead with its proposal because of delays in the monitor's development. But he said the success of the recent tests helped change his mind.

The monitors, he said, "appear to hold the key to achieving renewed progress in the battle against black lung."

The United Mine Workers of America wants the agency to require the constant use of the monitors in highly dusty areas of a mine or for miners who already have been diagnosed with black lung disease.

Lauriski has been cautious, saying he is worried the monitors may be too expensive to mandate. They are estimated to cost at least $7,000 each, compared with about $1,000 for existing sampling technology.