Deaths from silicosis, an incurable lung disease once common among miners, stonecutters and other industrial workers, have fallen 93 percent in the United States since 1968, bolstering hopes it may disappear.
The sharp drop in mortality occurred in part because of federal laws enacted in the 1970s that imposed limits on workers’ exposure to silica dust, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report Thursday.
A shift in the U.S. economy away from mining and heavy industry also helped to reduce the death toll, the Atlanta-based federal agency said.
Silicosis, which is marked by shortness of breath and persistent cough and linked to a higher risk of cancer, was the underlying or contributing cause of 148 deaths in 2002, compared to 1,157 deaths in 1968.
Although the CDC said “considerable progress” had been made in ridding the nation of the lung scourge, it noted that thousands of Americans continued to be over-exposed to the mineral dust in the workplace.
Silica sand is used to make glass and is a common ingredient in many industrial products. Repeated inhalation of its dust can scar the lungs.
Those who are exposed can die within months or decades later.
“Silicosis deaths and new cases are still occurring, even in young workers in the United States,” the CDC said. Workers employed in masonry, heavy construction and iron and steel foundries are among those most at risk, the agency added.
The CDC report came amid a battle in Congress over legislation that would create a $140-billion fund to compensate some victims of asbestos exposure. The heat-resistant mineral was once commonly used in building materials and auto parts.
Deaths from asbestosis, a respiratory illness sometimes grouped with silicosis and black lung, are expected to keep rising in the next decade as more workers succumb to illnesses from exposure often dating back decades.
