Global Environmental & Occupational Health
List of miners killed in a mine accident
UKRAINE:
Occupational Lung Disease in Ukrainian Coal Miners
The
lead U.S. scientist in this collaborative research program is Dr. Robert
Cohen. Our primary Ukrainian partner institutes are the Institute of
Occupational Health in Kyiv and the State Research Institute for Medico-Ecological
Problems of Donbass and Coal Industry. The purpose of this 5 year research
program is to evaluate the prevalence of respiratory and other occupational
diseases among 7000 coal miners in the Kirovski District, Donetsk, Ukraine,
who work in three different coal mines, Lidievka, Skochynsky, and Abakumov,
and attend City Hospital #25 outpatient clinics. We plan to study respiratory
and other diseases in this population before and after the introduction
of coal mine dust abatement procedures. These procedures, a joint project
between the US Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Ukrainian
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and Ministry of Fuel and Energy
involve the placement of water filters in the mines which will allow
proper functioning of dust suppression sprays. Only one mine is scheduled
to receive this intervention, the other two will serve as control mines.
We hope to show that the significant burden of occupationally related
lung disease may be reduced using these procedures. 
U.S. and Ukrainian miners meet
The industrial
hygiene component of the project will gather data on concentrations
of coal mine dust in each mine. This will be obtained by prospective
sampling which will allow better interpretation of previously obtained
Ukrainian sampling data. The partners in this portion of the project
are the Ukrainian Ministries of Labor and Social Policy and Fuel and
Energy, the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration, Scientific
Research Institute of Medico-Ecological Problems of Donbass and Coal
Mining Industry, and industrial hygienists from the University of Illinois
School of Public Health. Samples will be obtained simultaneously using
U.S. and Ukrainian technology procedure. The medical evaluation component
will utilize a random sample of 700 experienced coal miners taken from
the three study coal mines. 
Dr. Bob Cohen in a Ukrainian coal mine
In addition our bi-national team plans to study a cohort of young, new hires
at each mine to determine the incidence of disease. This population is ideal
since they undergo a mandatory annual physical examinations with 97% participation
rates. Funding for the Coal Miner's Health Center, where the evaluations are
being performed, has been provided in part by the American International Health
Alliance. A standardized questionnaire will be used to obtain an accurate work
history to estimate lifetime exposure to coal mine dust, a smoking history,
a history of respiratory symptoms, and other medical history. Spirometry will
be performed according to ATS guidelines using two highly accurate, dry rolling
seal computerized spirometers. Full size chest radiographs will be read in
the US by NIOSH certified B-readers using ILO 1980 standards as well as our
collaborators at the Institute for Occupational Health in Kyiv, Ukraine. Outcomes
for this project will be: prevalence of respiratory symptoms, category of pneumoconiosis
on chest radiograph, and lung function impairment. We will look for associations
between variables of exposure estimates taken from sampling and job histories,
tobacco smoke exposure and our outcome variables. Outcomes between control
and intervention mines will also be compared. Funding for the first phase of
this program has been received through the NIOSH pilot research grants program
and in kind support has been provided by the USAID-funded American International
Health Alliance. ITREOH funds will be used for research training and data management
in support of this program. |
