How to Use black lung in a Sentence

black lung

noun
  • My mother’s father died young of black lung.
    — Literary Hub, 18 June 2026
  • His father was a coal miner who died of black lung before he was born.
    — Washington Post, 23 Aug. 2019
  • His father was a coal miner who died of black lung disease before he was born.
    — Fox News, 23 Aug. 2019
  • Her father, a coal miner, later died from black lung disease.
    — Chris Morris, Variety, 4 Oct. 2022
  • At least two of the former workers have been diagnosed with black lung disease.
    — Dylan Lovan, ajc, 17 Nov. 2021
  • Her husband John was diagnosed with black lung about a decade ago at 47.
    — Leah Willingham and Matthew Daly, Anchorage Daily News, 25 July 2023
  • In America’s coal country, black lung rates are hitting highs not seen in decades.
    — Emily Atkin, The New Republic, 1 June 2018
  • Prior to the discovery, researchers largely thought that black lung cases were a thing of the past.
    — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 7 Feb. 2018
  • While fatal accidents have fallen over the years, cases of black lung disease resurged in the last two decades.
    — Chris Kenning, USA Today, 1 May 2025
  • Kenny Fleming, who was diagnosed with black lung disease three years ago, looks at an image of his lung.
    — Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, 4 June 2018
  • My mother was 7 when her father died, a 27-year-old coal miner destroyed by black lung disease.
    — Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2020
  • Her father, who eventually died of black lung disease, worked in the Van Lear mines.
    — Terence McArdle, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2022
  • People with black lung disease, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis found help at the clinic.
    — James R. Hagerty, WSJ, 14 May 2021
  • McKinley had said evidence of black lung risks could be brought up at sentencing if the men were convicted.
    — Dylan Lovan, ajc, 17 Nov. 2021
  • Their father was a coal miner, who died at age 52 of black lung, a condition that affected many mine workers.
    — Julie Tremaine, Peoplemag, 12 May 2024
  • Wilson, 63, said he has been diagnosed with black lung and has trouble sleeping at night because of fluid buildup in his lungs.
    — Washington Post, 11 July 2018
  • The miners don’t want black lung benefits to become a partisan issue, their attorney said.
    — Washington Post, 6 Sep. 2019
  • Miners who breathe dusty air over a period of years are at risk of contracting pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease.
    — Washington Post, 11 July 2018
  • But today, in Appalachia, miners are suffering from black lung at increasingly younger ages.
    — David Morgan, CBS News, 16 Aug. 2024
  • Silica dust is 20 times more toxic than coal dust and causes severe forms of black lung disease after even a few years of exposure.
    — Matthew Daly, Fortune, 17 Apr. 2024
  • Mental health became part of the block funded with black lung disease, rodent control, and blood pressure reduction programs.
    — Phyllis Vine, STAT, 21 Nov. 2023
  • Public health has long been a concern of West Virginia lawmakers, who for decades have addressed deadly plagues, from black lung to opioids.
    — Star Tribune, 12 Apr. 2021
  • An epidemic of severe and rapidly progressive black lung disease is emerging among coal miners in Appalachia.
    — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 7 Feb. 2018
  • Coal companies put some of their workers in harms way and are now asking to get out of tax that generates money to compensate former miners who have black lung disease.
    — Jonathan O'Connell, Washington Post, 25 Mar. 2020
  • As is typical for coal miners, Shoupe's 20 years in coal left him with health issues like black lung disease and vertebrae damage to his back.
    — Jeff Berardelli, CBS News, 24 May 2021
  • Coal companies put some of their workers in harms way and are now asking to get out of a tax that generates money to compensate former miners who have black lung disease.
    — Jonathan O’Connell, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Mar. 2020
  • The inhaling of dusty air in mines can lead to an incurable and fatal disease called pneumoconiosis, or black lung, which has killed tens of thousands of coal miners.
    — Dylan Lovan, ajc, 6 Nov. 2021
  • That led to a reduction in the amount coal companies pay into the fund, which pays benefits and medical bills for miners diagnosed with black lung disease.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 12 Dec. 2019
  • The regulations are meant to protect workers against dangerous levels of breathable dust in the air, which can lead to a deadly and incurable disease known as black lung.
    — Dylan Lovan, ajc, 8 Nov. 2021
  • In the Upper Big Branch mine, 71% of the 24 miners who received autopsies were found to have black lung.
    — Leah Willingham and Matthew Daly, Anchorage Daily News, 25 July 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'black lung.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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