Progress in the epidemiological studies on coal mine dust exposure with workers' health damage

Abstract

Coal is one of the major fuels, which brings huge energy and economic benefits to global industry and daily life. large amounts of coal dust produced in the process of coal mining and transportation, which seriously threatens the health of related workers. Productive coal dust exposure not only directly leads to respiratory diseases, but also may cause health damage to various systems throughout the body. Numerous studies have shown that coal dust exposure is closely associated with decreased lung function, coal worker's pneumoconiosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and cardiovascular diseases, and the severity of diseases is affected by coal rank, coal dust concentration, cumulative dust exposure, coal dust composition, and individual lifestyle, etc. The article comprehensively summarized the progress of the epidemiological studies on the health hazards of coal miners from coal dust exposure, in order to provide clues for further researches on health damage and protect the health of the occupational population.