The Mortality of Miners and Ex-miners in the Rhondda Fach

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Abstract
A six-year follow-up of 6,474 miners and ex-miners, originally radiographed in 1950-51, has been completed. They represent 97% of all those who were then resident in the Rhondda Fach. In addition, 2,750 non-miners living in the same area were also studied. Death certificates were obtained for all those who had died, including those who had left the area. Standardized mortality ratios (S.M.R.s) have been calculated for the various age and ϰ-ray category groups. The results suggest that (1) progressive massive fibrosis (P.M.F.) is a more serious disease than a previous study suggested; (2) the S.M.R. of miners and ex-miners without P.M.F. is also significantly raised; (3) there is no sign of any relation between the ϰ-ray category of simple pneumoconiosis and the S.M.R.; and (4) the S.M.R. of ex-miners is significantly higher than that of miners.