Coal Mining: Cancer and breathing issues are a result to those who mine

Today, Walk's grandfather has black lung, and Bone's mobility is severely limited. The biggest disasters of coal mining certainly make the news—like the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion in 2010, which killed 29 men and shook the ground beneath the house where Walk grew up. But a growing body of research suggests that the invisible threats that cause many miners to retire early—the respiratory problems, the cancer, the chronic disease—also debilitate and kill an untold number of West Virginians each year.

http://www.alternet.org/west-virginians-raise-alarm-research-links-coal-mining-cancer-birth-defects?akid=11670.294211.y8z8gQ&rd=1&src=newsletter978066&t=20