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Black Lung is Back
Autopsies of a mine disaster’s victims reveal another layer of the tragedy: most of the miners had black lung, a disease many experts thought was under control years ago. This entirely preventable disease is now bouncing back.
An investigation into last year’s coal mine disaster in West Virginia reveals a tragedy within a tragedy: autopsies show most of the men who died in the explosion also had black lung. Living on Earth’s Jeff Young reports on the factors that allowed a disease many thought was history to come roaring back.