A new study has found inequities in the delivery of federal benefits for Indigenous coal miners in the western U.S. who are suffering from black lung disease.
The study, conducted by the National Jewish Health Respiratory Hospital, says Indigenous miners in states like Arizona who have black lung are less likely to receive federal benefits from the U.S. Department of Labor using current standards for lung function, as opposed to standards specifically geared towards Indigenous people.
It also provides evidence that Indigenous miners experience more rapid lung decline as they age than non-Indigenous miners.
Cecile Rose is a pulmonologist with National Jewish Health in Denver and an author of the study.
“It's vital that that community get some particular attention because there is very little information on Indigenous workers in general, and coal miners in particular,” says Rose.
According to Rose, much of the data for the study was compiled during screenings conducted over sixteen years near the Navajo Nation.
KSJD has previously reported on the occurrence of the disease on the Navajo Nation and the myriad barriers to accessing federal black lung benefits that many Navajo coal miners face.