Chronic Pulmonary Disease in South Wales Coal Mines: An Eye-Witness Account of the MRC Surveys(1937–1942)

In the mid-1930s reports were accumulating from the British coalfields, particularly from the anthracite area of South Wales, that coal face workers suffered a disabling lung condition that was not recognized as the (compensatable) silicosis of rock workers. The Second World War was threatening and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social history of medicine : the journal of the Society for the Social History of Medicine 1998-12, Vol.11 (3), p.459-468
Main Authors: Hart, P D, Tansey, E M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biology
Causality
Chronic Disease
Coal Mining - history
coalworkers
Data Collection
Diseases
Epidemiologic Methods
Government Agencies - history
History of science and technology
History, 20th Century
Humans
Insurance, Health, Reimbursement - history
Life sciences
Medical Research Council
Medicine
surgery
pharmacy
Occupational Diseases - history
Occupational Exposure - history
oral history
Pathology
pneumoconiosis
Pneumoconiosis - history
State Medicine - history
Toxic diseases
United Kingdom
Wales
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Summary:In the mid-1930s reports were accumulating from the British coalfields, particularly from the anthracite area of South Wales, that coal face workers suffered a disabling lung condition that was not recognized as the (compensatable) silicosis of rock workers. The Second World War was threatening and discontent was rife. Government, through the Medical Research Council, initiated a medical and environmental investigation of chronic pulmonary disease in South Wales coalminers to make a systematic survey. The medical surveys, 1936–1942, were undertaken by a member of MRC staff, Dr Philip D'Arcy Hart assisted by Dr Edward Aslett of the Welsh National Memorial Association. One colliery (Ammanford) was intensively investigated; fifteen others less so; coal trimmers at the docks were added. The main observations were to confirm and describe radiographically the frequency of serious lung lesions apparently due to coal dust, and distinguishable from classical silicosis. Among recommendations accepted by Government, the lung condition became recognized for compensations, and the generic term ’pneumoconiosis of Coal Workers‘ was substituted for ’silicosis‘.
ISSN:0951-631X
1477-4666
DOI:10.1093/shm/11.3.459