Age as a health risk for Kola Peninsula underground miners

Introduction. The influence of age on the health in workers in hazardous working conditions remains largely unexplored.

Objective: To study the impact of age on the health of underground miners on the Kola Peninsula.

Materials and methods. We studied the impact of age on the development and nosological structure of 11,003 non-occupational and 1,597 occupational diseases in ten age groups. Data sources included periodic medical examinations and Murmansk regional registry of occupational pathologies.

Results. The changes in miners’ health associated with increasing age include gains in the incidence of non-occupational musculoskeletal pathology (from 4.10 to 158.11 cases per 100 workers), circulatory diseases (from 14.28 to 116.22 cases), and ear diseases (from zero to 18.92 cases). Also, there was a decrease in the proportion of respiratory diseases at the age of 55 years and over (p=0.010), digestive diseases at the age of 40–44 and over (p=0.003 – <0.001), skin diseases after the age of 25–29 (p=0.015 – <0.001), and endocrine diseases at the age of ≥ 60 (p=0.011). An increase in the incidence of musculoskeletal pathology was observed at the beginning of working life, while a rise in circulatory and ear diseases took place at the end of working life. The proportion of healthy workers decreased with age from 33.3% at age <20 to none at age over 55 years. The most pronounced increase in occupational diseases was observed among persons aged of 41–45 years. Among those aged over 55 years, compared to workers aged of ≤40 years, the incidence of occupational diseases increased by 67.1 times, and the proportion of workers with occupational pathologies increased by 58.5 times.

Limitations. The accompanying impact of changes in service length on miners´ health, which should not theoretically differ in all age groups.

Conclusion. It is necessary to consider age periods with increased risk of developing health problems that require targeted preventive measures.

Compliance with ethical standards. Ethics approval was not required for the study.

Contribution. The author confirms sole responsibility for the study conception and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of results, and manuscript preparation. The author is responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interests. The author declares that there is no conflict of interests.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: April 17, 2026 / Accepted: July 1, 2026 / Published: September 28, 2026

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