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Pneumoconiosis Overview
Are you or someone you love living with pneumoconiosis? Often, exposure to a dust-related lung disease occurs in the workplace and involves faulty equipment or failure to adequately warn workers of the risks.
For instance, 3M dust masks used by coal miners have recently been tied with coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP)—also called black-lung disease.
What is Pneumoconiosis?
Pneumoconiosis is a general term used to describe any lung disease that is caused by the inhalation of dust. Typically, pneumoconiosis is only encountered in the workplace, rather than from natural environmental exposure. For this reason, pneumoconiosis is considered an occupational lung disease.
Pneumoconiosis diseases usually take years to develop, sometimes even decades. The inflammation in the lung caused by these diseases is slow to develop,
Symptoms of Pneumoconiosis
Pneumoconiosis is often characterized by coughing, chest tightening, and shortness of breath, but many patients may show no symptoms at all in the early stages of the disease. Patients with pneumoconiosis may also find that oxygen is prevented from reaching the blood easily during breathing, resulting in low blood oxygen levels, or hypoxemia. Less severe pneumoconiosis may lead to hypoxemia only during activity and sleep, but the more severe disease may result in constant hypoxemia.
Causes of Pneumoconiosis
There are a number of different kinds of dust and fibers that someone can inhale and lead to various pneumoconiosis lung diseases.
Coal miners are constantly exposed to coal dust, which is made up of carbon-containing particles that can lead to coal workers’ pneumoconiosis. In most cases, CWP is a “simple” disease—long-term exposure to low levels of coal dust can lead to a version of the disease in which nodules of inflammation form in the lungs.
However, greater exposure leads to a higher risk of the disease developing into “progressive massive fibrosis,” the nodules growing together into large masses and causing major respiratory issues and may even become deadly. Coal workers’ pneumoconiosis is often referred to as black-lung disease because of the charcoal dust that accumulates in the lungs, turning them black.
Other dust particles and fibers that workers may be exposed to that could lead to pneumoconiosis lung diseases include asbestos fibers, crystalline silica, and beryllium.
Living with Pneumoconiosis
Once diagnosed with pneumoconiosis—a chronic, long-term lung disease—patients should take a number of steps to manage their health while living with pneumoconiosis. These may include avoiding smoke, regularly exercising, sleeping well, eating a well-balanced diet, and more.
3M Dust Mask Pneumoconiosis Litigation
In a workplace where exposure to dangerous dust is inevitable, personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential for workers’ health and safety. Unfortunately, some workers may find that their PPE is insufficient. Indeed, some coal miners are claiming that their 3M dust masks proved to be inadequate protection against the dangers, leading them to be infected with black-lung disease, or coal workers’ pneumoconiosis.
In 2018, two brothers who worked as miners and later developed black-lung disease filed a lawsuit against 3M Company, alleging their 3M dust masks were ineffective protection against their exposure to coal dust. A Kentucky jury found the equipment to be in a “defective and unreasonably dangerous condition,” and awarded the brothers $67.5 million.
Filing a 3M Dust Mask Lawsuit
If you or someone you love are living with pneumoconiosis after exposure to dangerous dust or fibers while using a 3M dust mask, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation. While filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by lung disease, nor can it bring a loved one back to life, it can at least help to alleviate the financial burden incurred by medical expenses, lost wages, and more.
