Pneumoconiosis is one of a group of interstitial lung disease caused by breathing in certain kinds of dust particles that damage your lungs.

Because you are likely to encounter these dusts only in the workplace, pneumoconiosis is called an occupational lung disease.

Pneumoconiosis usually take years to develop. Because your lungs can't get rid of all these dust particles, they cause inflammation in your lungs that can eventually lead to scar tissue.

Types of pneumoconiosis

The disease appears in different forms, depending on the type of dust you inhale. One of the most common forms is black lung disease, also known as miner's lung. It’s caused by breathing in coal dust. Another is brown lung, which comes from working around dust from cotton or other fibers. Other types of dusts that can cause pneumoconiosis include silica and asbestos. Diacetyl, the compound used to give movie popcorn its buttery flavor, also can lead to the disease. This is known as popcorn lung. 

Pneumoconiosis can be simple or complicated. Simple pneumoconiosis causes a small amount of scar tissue. The tissue may appear on an X-ray as round, thickened areas called nodules. This type of the disease is sometimes called coal worker pneumoconiosis, or CWP. Complicated pneumoconiosis is known as progressive massive fibrosis, or PMF. Fibrosis means that a lot of scarring is present in the lungs.

For either simple or complicated pneumoconiosis, the damage causes the loss of blood vessels and air sacs in your lungs. The tissues that surround your air sacs and air passages become thick and stiff from scarring. Breathing becomes increasingly difficult. This condition is called interstitial lung disease.

Symptoms

Symptoms of pneumoconiosis often depend on how severe the disease is. Simple CWP may have no or few symptoms and show up only on an X-ray. PMF may cause mild to severe difficulty breathing. Symptoms may include:

• Cough
• Lots of phlegm
• Shortness of breath