US Indigenous coal miners with black lung disease unlikely to qualify for federal support

but are less likely to qualify for medical benefits using currently required lung function standards rather than standards specific to Indigenous populations, according to new research., a team from National Jewish Health notes that over the past 16 years, they have provided free yearly medical screenings for work-related lung disease as part of a federally-funded Miners Clinic in Page, Arizona.

“In a recent surveillance study of active Indigenous coal miners, 3% had coal worker’s pneumoconiosis/black lung and 9% had respiratory impairment,” the article reads. “may qualify for Department of Labor compensation benefits, but it is unclear how current federal spirometry -or breathing test- criteria affect qualification for Indigenous coal miners.”

“Using the DOL-mandated Knudson spirometry standard rather than an Indigenous-specific standard, Indigenous miners would not qualify for federal compensation,” the researchers write. “Based on the study findings, more efforts are needed to understand and prevent black lung and other respiratory diseases affecting Indigenous workers.”

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In Conversation With Master Chef Sean Sherman: Reclaiming Healthy Indigenous Diets Across AmericaI am a Dakota and Yaqui student at Harvard Medical School. Prior to medical school, I completed my Master of Public Health on a Fulbright Scholarship, was an acting-clerk for the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples in the U.S. House of Representatives, and served as Co-Chair of the UN Global Indigenous Youth Caucus.
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