Lung cancer still haunts mining industry: Unique symposium looks specifically at prevalence of disease due to diesel fume and radon exposure and how to curb it.

• Author: McKinley, Karen
• Position: MINING

Long-term exposure to diesel fumes are a leading cause of lung cancer in miners. That is not a surprise to many working in the industry--multiple studies have proven it.

The challenge now is how to protect miners from further exposure and ultimately replace the decades-old fuel with something safer?

Those questions were being presented and discussed at the Prevention of Lung Cancer in Mining Symposium at the Willet Green Millar Centre in Sudbury on July 11. More than 100 people--representing everyone from the Ontario Ministry of Labour to mining companies to researchers to workers' unions to individual miners --were on hand to discuss the hazards of exposure to diesel fumes and other hazards like radon, and discuss progress, the latest research and possible prevention and elimination.

Hosting this symposium in Sudbury was a natural fit, according to host Vic Pakalnis, president and CEO of MIRACO Mining Innovation and associate vice-president of Laurentian Mining, Innovation and Technology.

"Actually, they (Occupational Cancer Research Centre) came to us (MIRACO) and asked if we could host this very unique symposium," he said.

"It seemed perfect, considering Sudbury is the heart of mining in the province. This is a serious issue and a costly one for the industry. We are framing it in ways that show the impact it has on everything from costs to the government to human lives being lost."

The day was a busy one with guest speakers presenting on everything from the costs to past struggles to have research papers published due to corporate and legal pushback. But the main topic was how diesel exposure has caused thousands of lung cancer cases among those working in the mines and the measures companies and the government have taken to lessen exposure.

Among the guest speakers was Paul Demers, director of the Occupational cancer Research Centre, who spoke about impact of exposure to cancer-causing agents in diesel exhaust and radon gas.

While exposure has been lessened, lung cancer due to exposure is still a major hazard to miners. Demers spoke about a five-part hierarchy of controls: personal protection, administrative controls, engineering controls, substitution and complete removal of...