A battle for compensation for welsh coal miners: JS Haldane v 'sericite' Jones, 1932-1934

American Journal of Industrial Medicine

Volumn 32, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 309-314

  Greenberg, Morris ^a  

^a NONE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Coal workers' pneumoconiosis; JS Haldane; Mineral fiber; Sericite; Silicates; Silicosis; Workers'compensation; WR Jones

Indexed keywords

SERICITE; SILICATE; SILICON DIOXIDE; UNCLASSIFIED DRUG;

ARTICLE; COAL WORKER; HUMAN; PNEUMOCONIOSIS; SILICOSIS; UNITED KINGDOM; WORKMAN COMPENSATION;

COAL; COAL MINING; DUST; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; HUMANS; MALE; PNEUMOCONIOSIS; SILICON DIOXIDE; WALES; WORKERS' COMPENSATION;

EID: 0030753716     PISSN: 02713586     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0274(199709)32:3<309::AID-AJIM19>3.0.CO;2-Z     Document Type: Article

References (22)

1. Anon (1936): Obituary: J.S. Haldane, C.H., M.D., F.R.S. Brit Med J i:617-619.
2. Arlidge JT (1889): An abstract of the Milroy lectures on Occupations and Trades in Relation to Public Health. Lecture II. Lancet 1:615-617. This report included the results of an analysis he had requested of the minerals in a potter's lung in 1871. Although sericite was not mentioned, Jones estimated what its content might be from certain of the findings.
3. Carpenter RG, Cochrane AL (1956): Death rates of miners and ex-miners with and without coalworkers' pneumoconiosis in South Wales. Brit J Ind Med 13:102-109.
4. Collis EL, Greenwood M (1921): "The Health of the Industrial Worker." London, J.A. Churchill, p 300.
5. Deane L (1899): In 'The Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops, Annual Report for 1898.' London, HMSO. Miss Lucy Deane, in her pioneer description of the hazards of working with asbestos, wrote: "The evil effects of asbestos dust have also instigated a microscopic examination of the mineral dust by HM Medical Inspector. Clearly revealed was the sharp, glass-like jagged nature of the particles...."
6. Departmental Committee on Compensation from Industrial Diseases (1907): London, HMSO. (Cd.3495) "...we have arrived at the conclusion that workmen whose regular occupation exposes them to the inhalation of silicious or metallic dust, and who develop fibroid phthisis [i.e., non-tuberculous fibrosis of the lungs] suffer from a trade disease sufficiently distinguishable and specific to their employment; but that, on account of the considerations that we have described [i.e., that employers would get rid of all men who showed symptoms before they were so incapacitated as to attract compensation] we cannot recommend the immediate addition of this disease to the schedule."
7. Jones WR (1933): Silicotic lungs: The minerals they contain. J Hyg 33:307-329.
8. Jones WR (1934): Silicosis. Transactions of the Institute of Mining and Mineralogy 43:341-382. This volume also recorded extensive contributions made by physicians and mining engineers to the discussion of his paper, either at the meetings or in writing, as well as Jones' replies. These are to be found on pp 430-448, 448-463, and 464-469.
9. Haldane JS (1933): "Silicosis in Coal Mining Employment" (a report prepared for the Mining Association, July 1933, p 5). Cited by Jones WR (1933): Silicotic lungs: The minerals they contain. J Hyg 33:307-329.
10. Haldane JS (1933): "Silicosis in Coal Mining Employment" (a report prepared for the Mining Association, July 1933, p 5). Cited by Jones WR (1933): Silicotic lungs: The minerals they contain. J Hyg 33:307-329.
11. Haldane JS (1934): Silicosis and South Wales colliers. (Letter) Brit Med J i:452. This is a brief comment on the journal's earlier account of the discussions on silicosis at the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. He dismissed the case for extending the scheme for compensating coal miners: "...after careful inquiry into the working histories and clinical symptoms of a large number of the certified cases I find myself unable to accept a great majority of the diagnoses of the medical boards...." He argued: "Cases of silicosis in the sense commonly accepted end nearly always in death from phthisis...the phthisis death rate of South Wales colliers is, like that of colliers elsewhere, considerably lower than that for the average occupied males...." This letter is disappointing and confusing. It does not attempt to deal with the cases with undeniable histopathological changes of silicosis in the lungs recognized by Cummins, where quartz exposure had not exceeded the arbitrary level. Further, although it had long been known that workers with silicosis were more likely to contract pulmonary tuberculosis, his contention that nearly all did so is in conflict with the evidence.
12. Hoffman FL (1918): "Mortality from Respiratory Diseases in Dusty Trades." Bulletin of Labor Statistics No. 231. Industrial Accidents and Hygiene Series No. 17. US Department of Labor, Washington, DC. Government Printing Office. Hoffman was disrespectful to grey hairs and reputations in his criticisms of certain opinions on the health of coal workers. Assertions alleging the beneficial effects of coal mining (longevity, resistance to tuberculosis, robustness) he categorized as "...practically valueless in that they are not with reference to ascertained facts, but based on general assumptions and conditions superficially observed in foreign countries." To Sir Thomas Oliver's assurance that "the health of coal miners is satisfactory," he responded: "The statistical evidence, however, is sufficient for the purpose, that coal mining, on account of dust exposure, requires to be included among the dusty trades injurious to health, with a decided consequential predisposition to respiratory diseases, whether tuberculous or nontuberculous...."
13. International Labour Organisation (1930): Studies and Reports Series F (Industrial Hygiene) No 13. Records of the International Conference on Silicosis at Johannesburg, 13-27 August 1930. London: P.S. King & Son, for ILO (League of Nations), Geneva. One objective of the conference was to agree on international criteria for the diagnosis of silicosis, to ensure equitable compensation. The characteristic clinical, microscopic pathological, and radiographic changes after prolonged inhalation of silica dust were agreed. There was consensus that the dust must be chemically uncombined silicon dioxide, of particle size less than ten microns, with lower limit unspecified, and in sufficient amount over a certain period of time, with the least amount of silica unspecified [author's emphasis]. The concept of "mixed dust pneumoconiosis" was implicit in their observation that the silicotic process allowed other dusts, in themselves relatively innocuous, to produce serious pneumoconiosis. (The distinguished participants included Dr. L.U. Gardner, Dr. A.J. Orenstein, Dr. Mavrogordato, Dr. L.G. Irvine, Dr. E.L. Middleton, and Professor E.H. Kettle, all of whom were active in research into dust diseases, but not Professor J.S. Haldane.)
14. Marine WM, Gurr D, Jacobsen M (1988): Clinically important respiratory effects of dust exposure and smoking in British coal miners. Am Rev Respir Dis 137:106-112.
15. Miller BG, Jacobsen M (1985): Dust exposure, pneumoconiosis and mortality of coalminers. Br J Ind Med 42:723-733.
16. Oliver T (1924) 'Occupational Disease due to dust'. Chapter III. Section 1. 'Dust diseases of the Lung'. p 701-719: In Kober GM, Hayhurst EM (eds.) "Industrial Health." Philadelphia, P. Blakiston's Son. He was dismissive of anthracosis or coal miners' "phthisis" presenting a health problem. "Today ventilation of coal mines in all the civilized world is good and as a consequence the health of coal miners is satisfactory...." "If the work of a coal miner is hard, his hours are not long compared with other occupations and the atmosphere in which he works, if in the line of the intake air, is satisfactory...." "So far as coal miners' phthisis is concerned it may be stated that a collier who develops anthracosis may live for years and be little inconvenienced.... It cannot be said of coal miners that they are an unhealthy class of men. Far from it; apart from the risks of mining their prospects of longevity are good."
17. Rao SS (1934): Silicosis in India. Brit Med J i: 1094. This was a brief letter in which the author stated that after a special survey a number of cases of silicosis had been found in the Kolar gold miners. The South African experts with whom the findings had been discussed attributed the fewer cases that appeared and the later age of presentation in India to the low 'free silica' levels in the rocks (5-20%) as compared with the 43-98% in South Africa.
18. R.F.V.R. (1948): "Profile: 'Sericite' Jones." In Phoenix, March, 9-13. In this valedictory on his retirement, the author celebrated Jones' success in persuading the government to extend compensation for coal miners. (Phoenix was an arts magazine published by the Imperial College Students' Union. It would have served to refute their stereotyping as boors and philistines. This venture would have been approved by Jones, as his policy was to improve living conditions for his students in the hope that this would help develop their personalities.)
19. Rogan JM, Attfield MD, Jacobsen M, Rae S, Walker DD, Walton WH (1973): Role of dust in the working environment in development of chronic bronchitis in British coalminers. Br J Ind Med 29:217-226.
20. Shufflebotham F (1914): The Milroy lectures on the hygienic aspects of the coal-mining industry in the United Kingdom. Lecture III. Brit Med J i:588-591. The author introduced this lecture: "Fibroid lung (such as potters suffer from) is rare amongst coal miners, and anthracosis does not seem to entail disablement." Later, however, he stated in the context of the practice of treating the roadways underground with shale dust as a fire suppressant: "A dust which contains 35 per cent of quartz and nearly 50 per cent of argillaceous [clay] matter must be viewed with profound distrust if the health of the worker is to be considered."
21. Stanton MF, Wrench C (1972): Mechanisms of mesothelioma induction with asbestos and fibrous glass. J Natl Cancer Inst 48:797-822.
22. WHO Task Group on Environmental Health Criteria for Man-made Mineral Fibers (1988): "Man-made Mineral Fibres." Environmental Health Criteria 77. Geneva, WHO.