There are fears more Queensland coal miners could be affected by a fatal lung disease thought to have been eradicated in Australia decades ago.
Six sufferers of black lung, or coal miners' disease, have recently been found in the state, and their cases are believed by some to be just the tip of the iceberg.
A senate inquiry hearing in Brisbane is investigating the re-emergence of the disease.
It's been thought that black lung -- a disease caused by long-term inhalation of coal dust -- no longer exists in Australia.
But retired coal miner Percy Verral contradicts that theory.
"I've been unwell for a good while. About 2002, that's when I started going into hospital. And they said, 'Oh, you've got pnemonia.' And then they had the cameras going down into my lungs, in 2005, and that's when they said, 'You've got black lung."
Black lung disease was last reported in Australia in the 1990s.
But Mr Verrall, who worked in Queensland mines for almost 30 years, is one of six cases recently identified in Queensland.
He says he's been in and out of hospital with bleeding lungs, and can barely talk as a result of the disease.
He's pleading for changes in the mining industry to stop others facing a similar fate.
"I don't want to see any other young blokes in that condition - it's got to be fixed up.They're not going to get, like all the other miners, black lung."
The Queensland Coal Mining Union fears Percy Verrall's case is not isolated -- estimating that up to 1,000 workers could have the disease.
The main trade union representing workers in the construction, forestry and forest products, mining and energy production industries has also weighed in.
CFMEU Mining Queensland District President, Steve Smyth, says a number of former miners may have black lung, but are still going undiagnosed.
"We have a lot of unprocessed X-rays there, we have a lot of people who've passed on and the list goes on. This screening system has failed for the last 10 or 15 years, so there is a lot of people who haven't been picked up by it."
Black lung or pneumoconiosis occurs when toxic coal dust is inhaled, causing fibrosis and scarring in the lungs -- leading to their progressive failure.
A Senate inquiry is investigating the return of the disease and why thousands of chest x-rays and records have allegedly gone unexamined over the years.
Mark Nevin, from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists, is worried about the implications.
"We're very concerned if there's that huge backlog of unreported x-rays, they need to be reported on."
Affected former workers are currently in compensation talks.
The Queensland government, meanwhile, has set up two reviews into what may have gone wrong with the medical testing.
But, also of concern are safety standards in the coal mines, more broadly.
The Senate inquiry has heard allegations of apparent oversight, including of inadequate ventilation and medical negligence.
Mike Oswell, from Anglo American Coal, has defended the practices in their mines before the inquiry.
"Safeguarding our employees from excessive dust is a priority for all our operations. We have comprehensive design, engineering and operational controls to minimise personal dust exposure."
