Beijing, May 1. (PTI): Pneumoconiosis, a work-related lung disease common in the mining and cement industries, is the top occupational killer in China, the world's largest coal producer and miner, latest Government statistics revealed.

Since the 1950s, China has reported a cumulative total of 6,77,000 occupational disease cases, more than 90 per cent of which were pneumoconiosis cases, an official with the Ministry of Health, Su Zhi said.

Excluding Shaanxi and Tibet, the year 2006 saw 11,000 new occupational disease cases, with pneumoconiosis accounting for a whopping 76 per cent, Su said.

"The proportion of pneumoconiosis cases was 1.44 percentage points higher than in 2005 and the latency period of the disease was shorter," he said.

Miners and cement industry workers develop pneumoconiosis by breathing in coal and cement dust. The disease, which has a relatively long latency, may take several decades to manifest itself, but it is deadly, said, an official with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Li Tao.

He said the coal mining, non-ferrous metal exploitation and construction industries were the three most dangerous industries, causing 41 per cent, 13 per cent and 6.5 per cent of total work-related illnesses last year.

He also noted that 621 pneumoconiosis cases reported last year were found to involve labourers under the age of 18.

The Ministry vowed to strengthen the supervision of coal mining, pharmacy and pesticide production this year, hoping to bring millions of migrant workers exposed to the risk of occupational disease into the health care network.