Author:
McCulloch Jock,Miller Pavla
Abstract
AbstractThe closely knit research community, centred on the South African Institute of Medical Research and the Miners’ Phthisis Medical Bureau, was created by the gold mining industry and the state between 1912 and 1916. This chapter describes the establishment and day-to-day working of that research community. It then documents the accumulation of evidence on the risks associated with exposure to silica dust, the synergy between silicosis and tuberculosis, the spread of infection in the mine compounds, the problems arising from the repatriation of sick miners and the declining living standards and malnutrition in the labour-sending communities. Despite the evidence, the chapter concludes, the Chamber of Mines and its Chief Medical Officer strenuously maintained that the mines were safe.
Publisher
Springer Nature Singapore
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