Functional respiratory disorders in miners of the Lorraine coal basin at the time of their retirement

: A clinical, radiological (RX) and spirographic examination and a measurement of lung transfer for CO (TCO), following the steady state method, were performed in 655 coal-miners. They had worked for an average of 30 years in the Lorraine coal-mines and their mean age was 50 years. Among the non-pneumoconiotics, 20% of non-smokers and 35% of smokers displayed ventilatory obstructive disturbances. In miners with simple pneumoconiosis, this percentage rose to 29 and 52.5% respectively. Abnormally low values of TCO were observed in 6% of non-smokers and in 22% of smokers without pneumoconiosis, while this was 35 and 41% respectively in pneumoconiotic workers. Finally, by using spirography and TCO simultaneously, we found respiratory troubles in at least 63% of pneumoconiotic miners and in 43% of those without such disturbances.