To help inform the setting of dust control standards in coalmines, this brief review summarises the most recent and reliable exposure-response relations, for damaging respiratory effects, derived from the Pneumoconiosis Field Research (PFR). Collecting data over 38 years in the British coal industry, this was a programme of prospective research on the respiratory health of coal miners, characte...

Coal fly ashes (CFA) are complex particles of a variable composition, which is mainly dependent on the combustion process, the source of coal and the precipitation technique. Toxic constituents in these particles are considered to be metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and silica. The purpose of this review was to study the in vitro and in vivo data on coal fly ash and relate the studied e...

Based on differences in the permittivity of coal and limestone rock, a resonant cavity measurement technique is presented for the rapid determination of the proportions of coal and limestone in powdered mixtures. The ratio of the resonant frequency shift and the change in the transmission factor when mixed coal and limestone samples are inserted into the cavity provides a means for estimating t...

OBJECTIVE To assess whether the recent increases in the prevalence of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) in the USA reflect increased measured exposures over recent decades, and to identify other potential causative factors. METHODS The observed CWP prevalence was calculated for 12,408 underground coal miner participants in the Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program for the period 2005-200...

To explore whether the characteristics of coal mine dust that predispose to chronic airways obstruction are the same as those associated with pneumoconiosis, mortality from the two disease was compared in coal miners in 22 counties of England and Wales during 1979-80 and 1982-90. The proportional mortality ratios (PMRs) for coal workers' pneumoconiosis varied from 135 (95% confidence interval (...

In recent years, atmospheric particulate matter has become the primary air pollutant in Nanjing, China. In order to support a scientific basis for particles reduction, it is of great importance to investigate the contribution of different sources to particulate matter. In this paper, the characteristics of chemical composition of observational data for size-fractionated particulate matter at Gu...

As mining operations in the United States (US) have become more productive, con­ trolling the dust exposure of mine workers has become more challenging. In response, US mining operations are applying basic controls at elevated levels and are looking to emerging control tech­ nologies in an effort to better control airborne respirable dust levels. The Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL) of the ...

The thermal characteristics and kinetics of coal, biomass (pine sawdust) and their blends were evaluated under combustion conditions using a non-isothermal thermogravimetric method (TGA). Biomass was blended with coal in the range of 5-80 wt.% to evaluate their co-combustion behaviour. No significant interactions were detected between the coal and biomass, since no deviations from their expecte...

Methods of isolation and analysis of dust from pneumoconiotic lungs are reviewed, and the results of lung dust analyses for different forms of pneumoconiosis are presented. A tentative classification separates beryllium, aluminium, abrasive fume, and asbestos, which cause interstitial or disseminated fibrosis from quartz, coal, haematite, talc, kaolin, and other dusts, which cause a nodular or ...

Dust-related dose-response decrements in lung function among coal miners have been reported in several studies, with varying magnitudes across populations. Few studies have compared differences between current and former coal miners. No studies on dose response relationships with lung function have been conducted in South African coal mines, one of the top three producers of coal internationall...