Death Rates of Miners and Ex-Miners with and without Coalworkers' Pneumoconiosis in South Wales

Abstract

At present the only practical method by which a diagnosis of coalworkers' pneumoconiosis can be made in life is by means of chest radiographs. Such a diagnosis, however, merely signifies the presence of radiological abnormalities due to exposure to coal dust. Of itself, it can tell us little about pulmonary disability or future loss of expectation of life. It is thus unfortunate that the radiograph has become practically of such importance, both in relation to dust suppression and to industrial compensation, before the necessary correlations have been established, i.e., between dust concentration, time of exposure, and rate of appearance of radiological abnormality on the one hand, and the radiological category of coalworkers' pneumoconiosis, age, pulmonary disability, and loss of expectation of life on the other. Roach (1953) has shown that a relationship exists between dust concentration, time, and the appearance of the first radiological abnormalities. Gilson and Hugh-Jones (1955) and Gilson, Higgins, and Carpenter (1956) discuss the relationship between age, radiological category, and pulmonary disability. This paper attempts the third of these correlations-the relationship between age, radiological category, and expectation of life.