Trump says coal is "a great business." One in three veteran Appalachian miners has black lung

The disease is back to 1978 levels while Trump delays a silica-dust rule and spends nearly $700 million propping up coal.

mett coalie, the coal mascot

Black lung among veteran Appalachian miners is back to 1978 levels, at the same time the Trump administration has put stronger silica-dust protections on hold.

After a century of mining, accessing Appalachia's remaining thin coal seams requires cutting through far more quartz-rich rock. This releases silica dust, which is 20 times more toxic than coal dust and scars miners' lungs with fibrotic tissue that cannot be removed.

Miners working in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia who've had at least 25 years underground have the worst rate of coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease. One in three — 32.5% — tested positive in X-rays conducted by NIOSH during the last five years.

The last time the rate of disease was that high for miners with the same work history was 1978. In 2018, when NIOSH last reported rates of the disease, the rate was 20.6%.

The new research shows that even miners with as few as 15 years underground have higher rates of black lung — rates not seen in nearly 40 years.

"I'm disgusted," said Scott Laney, a NIOSH research epidemiologist who is the lead author of the research letter.

These cases reflect exposure accumulated over years or decades. The Trump administration's response has been to delay enforcement of the stronger silica rule intended to prevent the next generation of cases while spending nearly $700 million to prop up coal.

"Coal's a great business" so long as your lungs aren't the ones in the mine.