Coal smoke is twice as deadly as thought – 12/02/2023 – Balance and Health

Coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, is much more harmful to human health than previously thought. According to a new report, coal emissions are associated with a mortality risk twice as high as those from fine particles from other sources.

The research, published in the journal Science, linked coal pollution to 460,000 deaths among Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older between 1999 and 2020.

The study also found, however, that the closure of coal plants in the United States, along with the installation of chimney scrubbers to “clean” coal exhaust, had beneficial effects during this period. Deaths attributable to emissions from coal plants among Medicare beneficiaries fell from about 50,000 per year in 1999 to 1,600 in 2020, a decrease of more than 95%, researchers found.

“Things were bad. It was terrible,” Lucas Henneman, lead author of the study and assistant professor of environmental engineering at George Mason University, said in an interview. “We’ve made progress, and that’s a really good thing.”

Researchers from six universities collected emissions data from 480 coal-fired power plants between 1999 and 2020. They used atmospheric modeling to track how sulfur dioxide converted to particulate matter and where it was carried by the wind, and then examined millions of deaths. of Medicare patients by zip code.

Although the researchers could not identify the exact causes of death, the statistical model showed that areas with more coal particles in the air had higher death rates.

One hundred and thirty-eight coal plants each contributed to at least 1,000 excess deaths, and ten plants were linked to more than 5,000 deaths each, according to the report.

The researchers also found that inhaling these fine particles from coal exhaust was especially deadly, even though the fine particles, known as PM 2.5, are often scrutinized for their health risks.

They also published an online tool showing deaths attributed to individual coal power plants.

“We can’t say how long these people would have lived without exposure,” Henneman said. “But we’re saying they died earlier because of this coal pollution.”

The requirement that coal power plants “clean up” the pollutants they emit by removing sulfur dioxide using a cloud of water droplets has proven to be a game-changer for public health.

After the installation of scrubbers in 2009 and 2010 at the Keystone power plant in Pennsylvania, the average number of annual plant-related deaths fell from 640 to 80, the report notes. The researchers further found that the average coal PM 2.5 level across the United States fell to 0.07 micrograms in 2020, compared to 2.34 micrograms per cubic meter of air in 1999.

“People today are living longer without so much coal pollution in the air,” Henneman said. “It’s a great success story.”

Coal use is declining in the United States but is increasing around the world. It is estimated to peak in 2025, at which point renewable energy sources are expected to become the largest source of electricity production.

The new study in Science adds to growing evidence of the health benefits that come from moving away from burning fossil fuels, especially for vulnerable populations.

In California, adding 20 zero-emission vehicles for every thousand people in a given zip code correlated with a 3.2% drop in the rate of asthma-related emergency room visits, according to a study published this month. year in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

In Chicago, the closure of three coal plants was followed by a 12% decrease in asthma-related emergency room visits among children four years old and younger living in the area relative to rates in more distant places, according to published research in 2021 in the American Journal of Public Health.

And after a large coal processing plant closed in Pittsburgh in 2016, there was an immediate 42% drop in weekly hospital visits for heart-related problems for nearby residents, another study found. The health benefits continued, with an average of 33 fewer hospitalizations for heart disease for each of the three years following the plant’s closure compared to the previous three years.

In May, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new rules that would limit the amount of pollutants power plants could emit and estimated there would be up to $85 billion in climate and health benefits. But given how deadly coal particulates have been found, Henneman said the benefits would likely be much greater.

Tighter restrictions on small airborne particles could also result in a 7% reduction in death rates for low-income and older people of color who have long been exposed to the country’s dirtiest air, according to research published earlier this year.