Studies using data from hospital records of these populations have found higher rates of morbidity and mortality due to respiratory diseases and cancer, and measures of biomarkers have evidenced greater exposures to environmental contaminants associated with the mining activities. Research about the state of health of exposed populations has been conducted using data from self-report health status and health surveys or health care costs. These studies have found reduced health-related quality of life, increased perceptions of detrimental health conditions, and higher frequency of medical consultations in communities resident or in proximity of coal mining. In the last three decades epidemiological studies have increasingly investigated the impacts of coal mining on the general populations in proximity to coal mining. The cumulated evidence of occupationally related studies is the main body of evidence about the association of diseases with exposure to coal mining. Epidemiological research has identified increased prevalence of chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as physio-pathological mechanisms of respiratory diseases in coal miners. Epidemiological research has provided evidence of the association of coal mining with diseases such as silicosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in studies of workers since the 1930s. The impacts of coalmining on human health have been of scientific concern since the sixteen century. The methods of the studies included in this review can be integrated with individual-level and longitudinal studies to provide further evidence of the exposure pathways linked to increased risk in the exposed populations.

There is consistent evidence of the association of coal mining with a wide spectrum of diseases in populations resident or in proximity of the mining activities. Exposed populations had non-increased risk of 9 ICD diagnosis categories of diseases of the genitourinary system, and prostate cancer. The exposed populations had increased risk of mortality and/or morbidity by 78 ICD diagnosis categories and 9 groups of ICD categories in 10 chapters of the ICD: Neoplasms, diseases of the circulatory, respiratory and genitourinary systems, metabolic diseases, diseases of the eye and the skin, perinatal conditions, congenital and chromosomal abnormalities, and external causes of morbidity. Twenty-eight epidemiological studies with ecological design from the USA, Europe and China were included. The health outcomes were mapped to ICD codes and classified by studies of morbidity and/or mortality, and the categories and chapters of the ICD.

MethodsĪ systematic database search of PubMed, EMBASE and Scopus following the PRISMA protocol was conducted to assess epidemiological studies from 1990 to 2016. Identify the ICD codes found in studies of morbidity and/or mortality in populations resident or in proximity of coal mining and assess the methods of these studies conducting a systematic review. The ICD classifies diagnoses of diseases and other disorders as codes organized by categories and chapters. Given the diverse sources of data included to investigate different health outcomes in the exposed populations, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) can be used as a single classification standard to compare the findings of studies conducted in different socioeconomic and geographic contexts. Evidence of the association of coal mining with health outcomes such as increased mortality and morbidity in the general population has been provided by epidemiological studies in the last 25 years.

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