Health Studies on the Effects of MTR Coal Mining

CHEJ's Report to the National Commission on the Health Impacts of MTR

CRMW’s Page on MTR and Health Impacts

Fact Sheet: The Impact of Coal of Our Lives

Selected News on Birth Defect Studies and Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Mountains Of Evidence: Questions About Coal’s Most Controversial Practice May Finally Be Answered

Timeline: Long History of Health Questions About Mountaintop Removal

National Academy of Sciences to study mountaintop removal health effects 

W.Va. DEP's Huffman: Strip-mine health studies deserve 'closer look'

New study details strip-mining air pollution

More science on mountaintop removal's health effects

Emily Bernhardt on mountaintop removal mining

How many mountains
can we mine?

New studies begin to
answer questions about mining, health

Mountaintop removal and birth defects: Just what are the coal industry’s lawyers talking about?

Correlations between Mining and Health

Judge Chambers blocks health studies from case

Environmental Health Perspectives: MTR: Digging Into Community Health Concerns

Nobody wants to hear about studies that link mountaintop removal to cancer and birth defects

Study: birth defect rates higher in MTR areas

Birth defects study: More inconvenient facts about the impact of mountaintop removal coal mining

Mountaintop removal and birth defects: Just what are the coal industry’s lawyers talking about?

Mountaintop Removal Linked to Birth Defects in Appalachia’s Coal Country

Selected News on Other Health Studies

Latest WVU study finds more health problems among residents near mountaintop removal mines

Weighing coal’s costs and benefits

Mortality in Appalachian Coal Mining Regions: The Value of Statistical Life Lost

Selected News on Other Scientific Studies

Bombshell study: MTR impacts ‘pervasive and irreversible’

Coal's Assault on Human Health

Studies on the Effects of Coal Mining

• Unintended Consequences of the Clean Air Act: Mortality Rates in Appalachian Coal Mining Communities (September 2016)  
  

  Main Points:

  1. Amendments to the Clean Air Act (CAA) were made in 1990.
  2. These amendments contributed to increased Appalachian mountaintop coal mining.
  3. Adjusted population death rates in mining areas were significantly higher post-CAA.
  4. Energy policy should attend to all phases of the fossil fuel production and use cycle.
• Association Between Residence Near Surface Coal Mining and Blood Inflammation (February 2015) 

  Main points:

  1. C-reactive protein in blood among mining community members is elevated for adults living near surface coal mines.
  2. Counts of ambient particulate matter are higher in mining communities.
  3. Self-reported health indicators are worse in mining communities.

            New: Read the rest of our synopsis here.
  
  

• Appalachian Mountaintop Mining Particulate Matter Induces Neoplastic Transformation of Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells and Promotes Tumor Formation (October 2014)  

  Main Points:

  1. The lungs are the primary target organ for these airborne mountaintop mining particulates.
  2. The results of this study show that chronic exposure (3 months) to 1 microgram/milliliter (µm/mL) of mountain top removal mining air on rat lung cells increased cell formation, cell clumps, and cell clump migration throughout their bodies.
  3. This study shows that air particulate matter from mountaintop removal communities promotes tumor growth, with a synergistic effect from the presence of molybdenum.
     New: Read the rest of our synopsis here.   

   

• Atmospheric Particulate Matter Size Distribution and Concentration in West Virginia Coal Mining and Non-Mining Areas (February 2014)
  

  Main Points:

  1. Coal mines and related mining activities result in the production of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) that is associated with human health effects.
  2. A subset of the ultrafine material is estimated to be deposited in the human lungs. The results show the total estimate of ultrafine particulate matter and the total count of particulate matter were significant in the mining group. Most significant levels were in the winter season.
• Increased Risk of Depression for People Living in Coal Mining Areas of Central Appalachia (September 2013)
  

  Main Points:

  1. Individuals residing in areas where mountaintop removal is practiced experienced significantly more poor mental health days.
  2. 36% of persons in mountain top removal areas were mildly depressed.
  3. 17% of persons in mountain top removal areas were moderately depressed.
  4. 7% of persons in mountain top removal areas were severely depressed.
     New: Read the rest of our synopsis here.

• The Environmental Price Tag on a Ton of Mountaintop Removal Coal (September 2013)
  

  Main Points:

  1. While several thousand square kilometers of land area have been subject to surface mining in the Central Appalachians, no reliable estimate exists for how much coal is produced per unit landscape disturbance.
  2. A one-year supply of coal would result in ∼2,300 km of stream impairment and a loss of ecosystem carbon sequestration capacity comparable to the global warming potential of >33,000 US homes.
     New: Read the rest of our synopsis here.

• Personal and Family Health in Rural Areas of Kentucky With and Without Mountaintop Coal Mining (March 2013)
  

  Main Points:

  1. Surface water emerging from MTM mining sites, or present in ground water proximate to mining, is characterized by elevated sulfates, iron, manganese, arsenic, selenium, hydrogen sulfide, lead, magnesium, calcium, and aluminum; pollutants severely damage aquatic stream life and persist for decades after mining at a particular site ceases.
  2. Airborne particulate matter around surface mining operations includes elevated levels of ammonium nitrate, silica, sulfur compounds, metals, benzene, carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and nitrogen dioxide.
  3. In 2010 over 1.5 million tons of coal were extracted from Floyd county, including over 1 million tons from surface mining operations.
  4. In the entire mining area of eastern Kentucky, there was a total of 68 million tons mined in 2010 including over 33 million tons from surface mines.
  5. Community members in mining communities are 1.71 times more likely to report respiratory symptoms, 1.44 times more likely to report cardiovascular symptoms, 1.69 times more likely to report skin symptoms, 1.67 times more likely to report gastrointestinal symptoms, 1.42 times more likely to report muscle/joint/bone symptoms, 1.60 times more likely to report neurological symptoms, 1.30 times more likely to report eye, ear, nose, and throat symptoms, and 2.09 times more likely to report other symptoms such as chills, fever, fatigue, and painful urination.
     New: Read the rest of our synopsis here.

• The Effects of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining on Mental Health, Well-Being, and Community Health in Central Appalachia (September, 2012)
  
• How Many Mountains Can We Mine? Assessing the Regional Degradation of Central Appalachian Rivers by Surface Coal Mining (July 2012)
  

  Main Points:

  1. The authors mapped surface mining from 1976 to 2005 and linked this data with biological and water quality for 223 streams.
  2. We estimate that 5% of the land surface within our study area was converted to surface mines between 1976 and 2005.
  3. The amount of each catchment’s surface area that had been mined explained ∼50% of the variation in conductivity and stream SO4^2- concentrations.
  4. The streams near increased mining percentage also responded similarly with the number of intolerant macroinvertebrates. Mined streams contained less than half of intolerant invertebrates than non-mined streams. 
     New: Read the rest of our synopsis here.

• PowerPoint: Atmospheric Particulate Matter in Proximity to Mountaintop Coal Mines (presented in 2012)
  
• The Association Between Mountaintop Mining and Birth Defects Among Live Births in Central Appalachia,1996-2003  (May 2011)

  Main Points:

  1. The effect of mountaintop mining on birth defects was even stronger than the effect of maternal smoking.
  2. Mountaintop mining in one county contributes to birth-defect prevalence rates in surrounding counties.
  3. The overall rate of birth defects was 13 percent higher in 1996-1999 and increased to 42 percent higher in 2000-2003.

           New: Read the rest of our synopsis here.

• Health-Related Quality of Life Among Central Appalachian Residents in Mountaintop Mining Counties (May 2011)
  

  Main Points:

  1. Statistical significance was found from both mining counties having lower self-reported health.
  2. When stratifying factors such as smoking status, alcohol consumption, etc. the mountaintop mining county showed that people in these communities were 1.31 times more likely to report fair or poor health comparatively to non-mining counties odds of reporting poor or fair health of 0.89 times more likely.
  3. The greatest odds of reporting limited activity days, poor physical days, and poor mental health days were among adults 50 years or older (2.04 times more likely to report these).
• Self-Reported Cancer Rates in Two Rural Areas of West Virginia With and Without Mountaintop Coal Mining (July 2011)
  

  Main Points:

  1. 59 out of 409 persons reported having cancer in mining communities compared to 34 out of 360 persons in non-mining communities.
  2. Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) was conducted through door-to-door interviews by trained college students.
  3. 4% of people contacted to be surveyed participated in the study.
     New: Read the rest of our synopsis here.

• Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal  (2011)

• Chronic Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in Mountaintop Mining Areas of Central Appalachian States (2011)
  

  Main Points:

  1. This study was conducted to test if greater levels of mining in mountaintop removal areas were associated with higher mortality rates from cardiovascular diseases.
  2. This study demonstrates that adjusted chronic cardiovascular mortality rates are higher in mountaintop mining communities than non-mountaintop mining and non-mining communities.
• Poverty and Mortality Disparities in Central Appalachia: Mountaintop Mining and Environmental Justice (2011)

• Residence in Coal-Mining Areas and Low-Birth-Weight Outcomes (January 2010)

• Mountaintop Mining Consequences  (January 2010)

• Ecological Integrity of Streams Related to Human Cancer Mortality Rates (April 2010)

• A Comparative Analysis of Health-Related Quality of Life for Residents of U.S. Counties with and without Coal Mining (July 2010)

• Learning Outcomes among Students in Relation to West Virginia Coal Mining: an Environmental Riskscape Approach (2010)

• A geographical information system-based analysis of cancer mortality and population exposure to coal mining activities in West Virginia, United States of America (2010)

• Mortality in Appalachian Coal Mining Regions: The Value of Statistical Life Lost  (July 2009)

• Higher coronary heart disease and heart attack morbidity in Appalachian coal mining regions (September 2009)

• Relations Between Health Indicators and Residential Proximity to Coal Mining in West Virginia (April 2008)

• Mortality Rates in Appalachian Coal Mining Counties: 24 Years Behind the Nation (2008)

• Mortality from heart, respiratory, and kidney disease in coal mining areas of Appalachia (May 2008)

• Lung cancer mortality is elevated in coal-mining areas of Appalachia (February 2008)

• Hospitalization Patterns Associated with Appalachian Coal Mining (June 2007)