Diesel exhaust exposure increases miners' risk of death due to lung cancer, according to epidemiological studies by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In June 2012, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified diesel exhaust as a human carcinogen. Given the serious health risk to miners from exposure to diesel exhaust, MSHA is reviewing the Agency's existing standards and policy guidance related to controlling miners' exposures to diesel exhaust and is assessing the effectiveness of the protections now in place to preserve miners' health.
MSHA sought information and data on approaches to control and monitor miners' exposures to diesel exhaust (See the Request for Information on Exposure of Underground Miners to Diesel Exhaust, which was published in the Federal Register on June 8, 2016); the comment period closed on September 25, 2020.