"Nuisance dust": Unprotective limits for exposure to coal mine dust in the United States, 1934-1969

A. Derickson

American Journal of Public Health, 2013, vol. 103, issue 2, 238-249

Abstract: I examine the dismissal of coal mine dust as a mere nuisance, not a potentially serious threat to extractive workers who inhaled it. In the 1930s, the US Public Health Service played a major role in conceptualizing coal mine dust as virtually harmless. Dissent from this position by some federal officials failed to dislodge either that view or the recommendation of minimal limitations on workplace exposure that flowed from it. Privatization of regulatory authority after 1940 ensured that miners would lack protection against respiratory disease. The reform effort that overturned the established misunderstanding in the late 1960s critically depended upon both the production of scientific findings and the emergence of a subaltern movement in the coalfields. This episode illuminates the steep challenges often facing advocates of stronger workplace health standards. Copyright © 2012 by the American Public Health Association®.

Keywords: anthracosis; coal mining; dust; government; human; legal aspect; maximum allowable concentration; occupational exposure; occupational health; practice guideline; public health service; review; standard; United States, Anthracosis; Coal Mining; Dust; Guidelines as Topic; Humans; Maximum Allowable Concentration; Occupational Exposure; Occupational Health; United States; United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration; United States Public Health Service (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2012.300932_1

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.300932

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