A sweeping rollback of workplace safety regulations has gutted U.S. protections against silicosis, threatening to revive one of the nation’s oldest occupational diseases.
David Michaels and Gregory Wagner write for The Atlantic.
In short:
- The Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has fired staff across key health and safety agencies, including the entire team behind the federal coal workers’ lung disease surveillance program.
- Enforcement of a newly finalized silica exposure rule for miners has been paused, with federal officials citing a lack of personnel and equipment certification capabilities.
- Silicosis cases are rising among workers in industries beyond mining, especially immigrant laborers fabricating quartz kitchen countertops in poorly regulated small shops.
Key quote:
“When these policies work, lives are saved — invisibly, as no one can ever know who didn’t get silicosis because of good regulation and enforcement.”
— David Michaels, professor at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health and former OSHA administrator
Why this matters:
Silicosis, a slow-killing lung disease caused by inhaling fine silica particles, is preventable but permanent. The particles are released in industries like mining, construction, and stone fabrication — jobs often held by low-wage workers, immigrants, and people of color. Once embedded in the lungs, silica can cause scarring that restricts breathing, ruins lives, and sometimes leads to early death. Although modern science has long known how to reduce the risks — things like using water to suppress dust, ventilating workspaces, and requiring protective respirators — these measures depend on strong oversight and enforcement.
Without federal inspectors, health surveillance programs, and updated exposure standards, the very same industries that harmed workers nearly a century ago may again become death traps. Already, spikes in silicosis among young countertop workers in California and miners in Appalachia show what happens when regulation slips. The collapse of the nation’s workplace protections threatens to reverse decades of hard-earned progress in occupational health, with potentially thousands of preventable illnesses on the horizon.
Learn more: Silica dust exposure could pose a major health risk
