|
Coal Fired Power Generation There are numerous peer-reviewed studies that show links coal power production and increased cancer risks to both workers and neighbors. We have summarized a few studies here. Aaron J. Cohen, Outdoor Air Pollution and Lung Cancer, Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol: 108. Supplement 4, August 2000. --The exposure of human populations to carcinogens in outdoor air maybe the result of proximity to more localized sources such as industrial facilities, small businesses (e.g., automotive body or chrome-plating shops), municipal facilities (e.g., waste incinerators), or areas with high vehicular traffic. --The combustion of fossil fuels for power generation and transportation produces gaseous pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen that are converted into fine particulate air pollution in the atmosphere. --The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified strong sulfuric acid aerosol as a known human carcinogen based on epidemiologic findings of increased lung and laryngeal cancer in heavily exposed occupational groups. --Fossil fuel-fired (i.e., coal, oil, natural gas) electrical power plants emit known or suspected carcinogens, including metals such as arsenic, chromium and nickel, radionuclides such as radon and uranium, and POM such as benzo[a]pyrene. --Perhaps 10% of then-current lung cancer in large cities might have been due to air pollution. (Doll and Peto) --After adjustment for differences in age, sex, cigarette smoking, obesity, and education among cohort members, researchers observed a 37% excess lung cancer risk for a difference in fine particulate mass equal to that of the most polluted versus the least polluted city. E. G. Knox, E. A. Gilman. Hazard proximities of childhood cancers in Great Britain from 1953-80. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Vol: 51. Pp 151-159. 1997. --Childhood cancers are geographically associated with two main types of industrial atmospheric effluent namely: petroleum derived volatiles and kiln and furnace smoke and gases, and effluents from internal combustion engines. --881.4 cases of cancer were predicted for the exposure to power station emissions however, 1039 cancer cases were present indicated an 18% increase in risk of child cancer risk if located 0-3 km (0-1.8 miles) from a power station. Data from 69 power stations were observed. --Alternative modes of access to such substances included the following: Diffusing gases and volatiles reaching the children or their pregnant mothers directly, mediation through parental/occupational germ-cell injury and occupational/domestic contamination via clothing or through other means. --In 1965/6, 20 million tonnes of coal and oil were used in the production of gas. Bo Holmbery and Ulf Ahlborg, Consensus Report: Mutagenicity and Carcinogenicity of Car Exhausts and Coal Combustion Emissions. Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol: 47 Pp 1-30, 1983. --Combustion products of fossil fuels in ambient air, probably acting together with cigarette smoke, have been responsible for cases of lung cancer in large urban areas to the extent of 5-10 cases per 100,000 males per year; this corresponds to approximately 10% of lung cancer in large cities or roughly 1-2% of all cancer for the U.S. as a whole. (Page 2) --We know that fossil fuel combustion products contain carcinogens; the evidence stems from the chemical identification of recognized carcinogens, positive bioassay data from a variety of in vitro and animals systems as well as epidemiology studies. (Page 3) --Because the efficiency of particulate capture is inversely proportionate to particle size, emissions from a modern coal-fired power plant are predominantly in the respirable mode. (Page 7) --All the generally accepted or strongly suspected human metal carcinogens (As, Ni, Cr, Cd, Be) are present in coal and are released to a certain degree with the flue gas. (Page 7) --Comparison of the mutagenicity of particle emissions from coal-fired power plants to other combustion sources on a fuel consumption basis (e.g., revertants/g fuel) shows that large (25-600 MW) coal-fired power plants, when operating efficiently, have an extremely low mutagenic emission rate based on the particle emissions. (Page 13) (This would tend to indicate that the grandfathered plants may be more dangerous that new plants.) Luis Cifuentes, Victor H. Borja-Aburto, Melson Gouveia, George Thurston and Devra Lee Davis. Hidden Health Benefits of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation. Policy Forum: Climate Change. www.sciencemag.org. Vol: 293, August 2001. --It has been estimated that reducing emissions from older coal-fired power plants in the United States could provide substantial benefits to public health, including the avoidance of 18,700 deaths, 3 million lost work days, and 16 million restricted-activity days each year. --By reducing emissions from nine older coal plants in the Midwest, roughly 300 deaths, 2000 respiratory and cardiac hospital admissions, 10,000 asthma attacks, and 400,000 person-days of respiratory symptoms could be avoided each year. Hans L. Falk and William Jurgelski, Jr. Health Effects of Coal Mining and Combustion: Carcinogens and Cofactors. Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol: 33, Pp 203-226. 1979. --Inhalation studies require larger doses yielded negative results until particulate matter was introduced which facilitated the development of lung tumors. --Several epidemiological studies imply that the incidence of gastric carcinoma in coal miners is elevated above that of comparable segments of the general population not engaged in mining of coal. Up to Top |
