Mine dust - as a cause of respiratory diseases of miners

The risk of industrial dust in the work process is one of the greatest challenges not only in Europe but also in the modern world, where over a million people die each year from pneumoconiosis and other respiratory diseases. In Poland, one of the most numerous groups of employees constantly exposed to polluted air at the workplace are miners employed in hard coal mines, who in 2021 they accounted for 89.8% of all exposed persons in Poland (34,876 employees). In order to assess the impact of industrial dust hazards on the health of miners, employees of the Department of Safety Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology, in cooperation with students of the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin and a pulmonology specialist, conducted a pilot assessment of the effects of long-term exposure of employees of the preparatory departments of mine X to mine dust. The scope of diagnostic tests included: interview with the patient, physical and spirometric tests. Among the surveyed miners, 18.4% had various disorders and changes in the respiratory system, including the diagnosed pneumoconiosis. The article describes the health effects of long-term exposure of miners to mine dust and the partial results of the diagnostic tests