The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, confirms that 32.5% of veteran underground coal miners in central Appalachia are suffering from black lung disease, a devastating rate not seen since 1978.

For decades, the UMWA fought to secure a modern federal rule targeting toxic crystalline silica dust, a substance 20 times more toxic than coal dust alone. After years of administrative delay, a comprehensive safety standard was finalized, only to be hit with industry lawsuits and placed on hold by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and federal courts.

“Mining associations filed lawsuits arguing this rule hurts business, but what about the human lives destroyed every single day this rule sits on a shelf?”

“Every day federal regulators drag their feet and sit on this rule, another working father, mother, husband, wife, sister or brother contracts an incurable, fatal disease. Someone’s life is forever changed. A company’s profit margin cannot take precedence over a miner’s right to draw a breath.”

— Brian Sanson, UMWA International President

Flaws in Reliance on Personal Protective Equipment

Sanson sharply criticized industry arguments advocating for personal respirators and dust masks instead of mandatory engineering and ventilation controls underground. The UMWA highlighted three critical flaws:

• Current Mask Use Has Not Stopped the Epidemic: Many miners are already using respirators, yet black lung rates are at a 50-year peak because masks alone cannot protect miners from the massive volume of toxic silica dust generated by high-powered machinery.
• Severe Underground Safety Hazards: In dark, roaring, multi-ton equipment environments, heavy mask units restrict peripheral vision, limit situational awareness, muffle vital crew communication, and trap heat. A miner’s work environment should not require equipment that hinders safe communication just to finish a shift safely.
• Legal Requirements for Clean Air: Federal law mandates that the mine environment itself must be made safe through dust control and ventilation—not that workers must adapt to toxic air to earn a living.

The heart of the crisis is still in central Appalachia’s nonunion mines. Miners there are forced to cut through razor-thin coal seams locked in rock using massive, high-powered machinery. And without union backing, speaking up about toxic air or broken dust controls usually means risking your job.

The UMWA Demands Immediate Federal Action

• Lift the Legal Stay: Unfreeze the finalized silica dust rule and enforce it immediately without further administrative delays.
• Reject Operator Loopholes: Refuse industry requests to substitute personal respirators or job rotations for required ventilation controls.
• Increase Federal Oversight: Ramp up unannounced dust sampling and enforce strict penalties against operators cutting thin-seam, high-quartz rock.

“More needs to be done, and it needs to be done now. Miners are wearing masks, they are following rules, and yet they are still breathing in killer dust. We will not stand by while federal regulations are ignored and sat on while our members and coalfield workers pay for it with their lives.”

— Brian Sanson, UMWA International President