Mortality Rates Among Coal Miners

Abstract

A study of mortality among coal miners in the U. S. for the year 1950 shows death rates were nearly twice those for all working males. When deaths due to violence are excluded the excess among coal miners is not so great; however, there emerges a relationship between excess mortality and age ranging from a 23% excess at ages 20-24 to a 122% excess at ages 60-64. It is felt that this represents the cumulative impact of environmental factors on the health of coal miners. Death rates were high for all causes except diabetes. The greatest excess was for diseases of the respiratory system, cancer of the stomach and accidents, the same causes which show the greatest excess in studies of British coal miners.