X-ray screening of 1,236 miners in 1996 and 1997 shows the debilitating effects of silicosis are still a health risk, despite years of control efforts, according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
X-rays showed that 6.7 percent of the miners had the potentially life-threatening illness, which results in a build-up of scar tissue in the lungs from years of inhaling silica dust in mining operations.