National Office
CSTE
2872 Woodcock Blvd
Suite 303
Atlanta, GA 30341
770-458-3811
770-458-8516
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Indicator 10: Pneumoconiosis Mortality |
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| • Annual number and rate of deaths with pneumoconiosis as the underlying or contributing cause of death |
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| Data Source: Numbers of deaths: State Vital Records. Numbers of deaths in the U.S.: National Center for Health Statistics multiple cause of death file. Population statistics used to calculate rates: U.S. Census Bureau. |
Pneumoconiosis is a term for a class of non-malignant lung diseases caused by the inhalation of mineral dust, nearly always in occupational settings. Most cases of pneumoconiosis develop only after many years of cumulative exposure; thus they are often diagnosed in older individuals, long after the onset of exposure. These diseases are incurable and may ultimately result in death.1
Pneumoconiosis includes: silicosis, asbestosis, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), and, less commonly, pneumoconiosis due to a variety of other mineral dusts, including talc, aluminum, bauxite, and graphite. Byssinosis is sometimes grouped with "pneumoconiosis," even though byssinosis is caused by occupational exposure to organic (e.g., cotton) dust. Individuals with certain kinds of pneumoconiosis are at increased risk of other diseases, including cancer, tuberculosis, autoimmune conditions, and chronic renal failure.
All states collect cause-of-death information on death certificates, including both the underlying and contributing causes of death. From 1990 through 1999, pneumoconiosis was an underlying or contributing cause of more than 30,000 deaths in the United States, for an overall age-adjusted annual mortality rate of 15.8 per million population among those age 15 and older. Pneumoconiosis was the underlying cause of death in approximately one-third of these deaths.2 Mortality from most kinds of pneumoconiosis has gradually declined over the past three decades with the exception of asbestosis, which has increased more than tenfold.
Deaths due to pneumoconiosis are undercounted on death certificates.3,4 Pneumoconiosis is likely to be under-recorded on the death certificate as a cause of death because it is under-recognized by clinicians for a number of reasons, including the long latency between exposure and onset of symptoms, and the non-specificity of symptoms.
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| Data |
| • 2000 click here to view table |
| • 2001 click here to view table |
| • 2002 click here to view table |
| • 2003 click here to view table |
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1Christiani DC, Wegman DH. Respiratory disorders, In Occupational Health:Recognizing and Preventing Work-Related Disease (3rd ed.) Levy BS, Wegman DH (eds.) Little Borwn, 1995:427-454
2National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Work-related lung disease surveillance report 2002. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. DHHS (NIOSH) Number 2003-111. 2003.
3 Rosenman KD, Reilly MJ, Henneberger PK. Estimating the total number of newly recognized silicosis cases in the United States. Am J Ind Med. 2003; 44:141-147.
4 Goodwin S., Stanbury M, Wang, M-L, Silbergeld, E, Parker, JE. Previously undetected silicosis in New Jersey decedents. Am J Ind Med. 2003; 44:304-311.
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