Coal Mines In South Africa Essay

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South Africa is a mineral rich country consisting of a substantial amount of mines, which benefit from these resources. Among these mines, are coal mines, which display the extraction of coal for several uses such as extracting coal for the generation of electricity, steel production and as a liquid fuel. The mining environment can at times take its toll on the people working in and amongst mines as it exposes one to many different elements. One of the elements is dust, which is commonly associated with mining and especially that of coal mining. The inhalation of the dust, particularly present at coal mines can have catastrophic consequences depending on the amount and timespan that one is exposed to it. Dust found at coal mines contain small coal particles which, when …show more content…

As a result, the body sends cells to attack the particles in the problem area. The cells cannot get rid of the particles and then as a result die (Nolo, n.d.). When this happens certain substances are realest causing scar tissue to form around the dust particles due to the irritation
(Nolo, n.d.). Long-term inhalation of coal dust forces the lung air sacs to become inflamed which then leads to stiffening of the lungs due to scarring of the tissue between the sacs (Manahan, 2013). This in turn results to lung function being reduced, which increases the victim’s susceptibility to other lung diseases and viruses
(Manahan, 2013). There are two stages of Black Lung Disease recognized: (1) Simple coal miner’s Pneumoconiosis and (2) Complicated coal miner’s Pneumoconiosis
(Manahan, 2013).
Simple coal miner’s Pneumoconiosis is the disease in its early form and presents few symptoms. This stage of the disease is characterized by the presence of nodular aggregations within the lungs and initially occurs at the site where the coal

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