A systematic review of occupational exposure to coal dust and the risk of interstitial lung diseases.
Objective: Exposure to coal dust can cause interstitial lung disease (ILD), but whether this is due to pure coal or to the contents of quartz in coal is less clear. Here, we systematically reviewed the relation between 'pure coal' and ILD.Methods: In a systematic review based on PRISMA criteria 2945 articles were identified. Strict eligibility criteria, which evaluated the 'pure coal effect', led to the inclusion of only nine studies.Results: Among these nine studies six studies indicated an independent effect of the non-quartz part of coal on the development and progression of ILD, two did not demonstrate an effect and one was inconclusive.Conclusions: Although an independent effect of non-quartz coal dust on the development of ILD is supported, due to methodological limitations the evidence is limited and further evidence is needed.
Department of Public Health, Section for Environment, Occupation and Health, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Aarhus University , Aarhus , Denmark.
Christiane
C
Beer
Department of Occupational Medicine, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus , Denmark.
Henrik A
HA
Kolstad
Department of Rheumatology, Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus , Denmark.
Klaus
K
Søndergaard
Department of Respiratory Diseases and Allergy, Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus , Denmark.
Elisabeth
E
Bendstrup
Institute for Risk Assessment Science, Utrecht University , Utrecht , The Netherlands.
Dick
D
Heederik
Department of Pathology, Odense University Hospital , Odense , Denmark.
Karen E
KE
Olsen
Department of Occupational Medicine, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Aalborg University Hospital , Aalborg , Denmark.
Øyvind
Ø
Omland
Department of Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine , Morgantown , WV , USA.
Edward
E
Petsonk
Department of Public Health, Section for Environment, Occupation and Health, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Aarhus University , Aarhus , Denmark.
Torben
T
Sigsgaard
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Department of Pulmonary Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
David L
DL
Sherson
Department of Public Health, Section for Environment, Occupation and Health, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Occupational Medicine, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Vivi
V
Schlünssen
Mining; coal dust; coal workers’ pneumoconiosis; interstitial lung disease; non-quartz coal dust; quartz