Coal miners are getting new protections from silica dust linked to black lung disease
WASHINGTON (AP) — Coal miners will be better protected from poisonous silica dust that has contributed to the premature deaths of thousands of mine workers from a respiratory ailment commonly known as black lung disease, the Labor Department said Tuesday as it issued a new federal rule on miners’ safety.
The final rule, announced by Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, cuts by half the permissible exposure limit for crystalline silica for an eight-hour shift.
Mine workers, community advocates and elected officials from Appalachian states have pushed for the stricter rule, noting that health problems have grown in recent years as miners dig through more layers of rock to gain access to coal seams when deposits closer to the surface have long been tapped. The increased drilling generates deadly silica dust and has caused severe forms of pneumoconiosis, better known as black lung disease, even among younger miners, some in their 30s and 40s.
Related articles
Kristin Cavallari, 37, ignores critics of her age
Kristin Cavallari is enjoying a romantic rendezvous with her much younger cowboy lover Mark Estes in2024-05-21Thai prime minister promises investigation after activist died in detention
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s prime minister on Wednesday offered his condolences to the family of a you2024-05-21Christina Aguilera leaves RCA Records after spending her entire 26
Christina Aguilera is moving on from the only record label she's ever signed to, RCA Records, which2024-05-21Van der Poel will skip mountain bike event at Paris Olympics to focus on road race
BRUSSELS (AP) — World champion Mathieu van der Poel will focus on the Olympic road race at the Paris2024-05-21Analysis: Larson enters conversation with Verstappen as best drivers in the world
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ask almost any hardcore motorsports fan who the best driver in the world is righ2024-05-21A new South Africa health law aims at deep inequality, but critics say they'll challenge it
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday signed into law a bill that2024-05-21
atest comment