"Activities undertaken in 1977 by NIOSH in relation to the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 are reviewed. Funding for these activities totaled 4.4 million dollars and covered the costs of the medical examinations and autopsy program, clinical and rehabilitation research, engineering research, epidemiological and industrial hygiene research, and laboratory research and services. Of the miners examined in 1977, 98.7 percent had no evidence of pneumoconiosis and approximately 95 percent had no evidence of any other abnormalities. Major projects included an international workshop on Diesel Equipment in Underground Coal Mines, reports on job stress in coal mining, mortality among coal miners, ongoing clinical and laboratory studies, and approximately 300 autopsies. Other activities included the testing and certification of coal mine dust personal sampler units, respirators, gas and vapor detector tubes, sound level meters, safety eyewear, miners' helmets, welders' filter plates, and noise dosimeters. ." - NIOSHTIC-2

"Health activities carried out in 1975 by NIOSH under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 were described. Activities included periodic medical services for coal miners, extensive research in pulmonary diseases, setting occupational standards in coal mining industrial health programs, and paying for postmortem examinations of miners and former miners. The medical services included physical examinations, chest x-ray examinations for working miners, and postmortem studies of other miners. Of 56,575 men participating in the second round of chest x-ray examinations between July of 1973 and March of 1975, lung cancer was suspected in about 750 of them, marked emphysema was noted in more than 3,500, and evidence for tuberculosis, usually inactive, was noted in more than 3,000. Research designed to improve the health of coal miners was divided into five major areas: early diagnoses, epidemiological studies, infectious disease studies, laboratory investigations, and toxicologic studies. The major epidemiological study was devoted to coal workers' pneumoconiosis. Infectious disease research was directed toward evaluating the interactions of mineral dusts and infectious agents, assessing miner susceptibility, and developing the techniques for identifying and treating persons who are or who might become susceptible to repeated respiratory tract infections. Interagency activities have involved the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Labor, the Coal Mine Health Research Advisory Committee, the Interim Compliance Panel, and the Department of the Interior." - NIOSHTIC-2