Black lung disease is the common name for coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) or anthracosis, a lung disease of older workers in the coal industry, caused by inhalation, over many years, of small amounts of coal dust. Black lung results from inhaling coal dust over a long time. Although coal dust is relatively inert and does not provoke much reaction, it spreads throughout the lungs and shows up as tiny spots on an x-ray. Coal dust may block the airways. In simple black lung, coal dust collects around the small airways (bronchioles) of the lungs. Every year, 1 to 2% of people with simple black lung develop a more serious form of the disease called progressive massive fibrosis.

Black lung disease is an occupational lung disease caused by prolonged inhalation of coal mine dust. Black lung disease is also called silicosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or black lung. Discover the signs, symptoms, treatment & prevention of black lung disease. The risk of having black lung disease is directly related to the amount of dust inhaled over the years; the disease typically affects workers over age 50. Its common name comes from the fact that the inhalation of heavy deposits of coal dust makes miners lungs look black instead of a healthy pink.

The inhalation and accumulation of coal dust causes coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP). This stems from working in a coal mine, coal trimming (loading and stowing coal for storage), mining or milling graphite, and manufacturing carbon electrodes (used in certain types of large furnaces) and carbon black (a compound used in many items, such as tires and other rubber goods). Because CWP is a reaction to accumulated dust in the lungs, it may appear and get worse during your exposure to the dust or after your exposure has ceased.

Black lung disease results from inhaling coal dust and carbon over a long period of time. Coal dust settles in the lungs, causing them to harden and make breathing difficult. It is a chronic, progressive, disabling, and often fatal lung disease. There are two types: simple and complicated. The complicated form, sometimes referred to as progressive massive fibrosis, affects less than 2% of those with the simple form. The complicated form involves progressive scarring of the lungs, which leads to premature disability and death. Cigarette smoking adds to the lung damage caused by coal dust.

Some patients develop emphysema (a disease in which the tiny air sacs in the lungs become damaged, leading to shortness of breath, and respiratory and heart failure) as a complication of black lung disease. Others develop a severe type of black lung disease called progressive massive fibrosis, in which damage continues in the upper parts of the lungs even after exposure to the dust has ended. Scientists aren't sure what causes this serious complication.

Diagnosis of black lung disease is made through taking medical history and x-raying the lungs, which may show spots where nodules have formed. Information on breathing disruption, breathing difficulties, and chronic cough is also valuable in diagnosis. If in its early stages, affected people may still live quite normal lives, especially if they change their work environment. Some people benefit from supportive treatment like access to oxygen or through using inhalers like asthma inhalers.