The Pneumonoconioses in South Wales

Abstract

In an article on Pneumonoconiosis published in 1935 I attempted to simplify the problem of lung diseases caused by exposure to dust in industry by means of a classification which might allow of the placing of individual cases into appropriate categories. The importance of some such classification has been emphasized during the past year or so by the gradual realization of the fact that, especially in the South Wales coalfield, cases of more or less disabling lung conditions are frequently met with which cannot conscientiously be fitted into the category of “silicosis”, as defined at the International Conference at Johannesburg in 1930. These cases cannot be “certified” for compensation under existing Statutes, and yet present a picture of respiratory distress and dyspnoea on exertion which marks them out as quite unfit for work.