Health Risks of Mining in the Arctic

Abstract

Introduction: Mining in the Arctic is associated with an increased risk of developing occupational diseases. The objective of the study was to investigate the risks, structure and prevalence of occupational diseases in workers engaged in extraction of oil and gas, coal, and ore raw materials in the Russian Arctic. Materials and methods: I analyzed the results of socio-hygienic monitoring “Working Conditions and Occupational Health” conducted in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation in 2007–2018. Results: Significant differences in working conditions in the extraction of various types of minerals were established, the most favorable being in the oil and gas industry as opposed to the coal mining. The risk of occupational diseases in coal mining was higher than that in oil and gas production (OR = 366.7; CI 275.8–487.6) and ore mining (OR = 1.66; CI 1.58–1.73). Among oil and gas industry workers, the structure of occupational diseases was dominated by sensorineural hearing loss (50.0 %), radiculopathy (20.8 %) and vibration disease (18.9 %). In coal miners, the most prevalent diseases included radiculopathy (32.8 %), chronic bronchitis (26.9 %) and mono-and polyneuropathy (15.5 %), and in ore miners – vibration disease (44.8 %) and radiculopathy (16.3 %). In 2018, compared to 2007, the number of occupational diseases in ore and coal miners increased by 2.16 and 1.42 times, respectively. In 2007–2018, the proportion of occupational diseases diagnosed in miners of the Russian Arctic rose from 57.9 % to 75.6 %. Conclusions: In the mining industry of the Russian Arctic, the maximum health risk is observed in coal mining, and the minimum – in gas and oil industry. The number of occupational diseases in miners tends to increase, which requires improvement of preventive measures adapted to Arctic conditions.