Atmospheric particulate matter in proximity to mountaintop coal mines: sources and potential environmental and human health impacts

Abstract

Mountaintop removal mining (MTM) is a widely used approach to surface coal mining in the US Appalachian region whereby large volumes of coal overburden are excavated using explosives, removed, and transferred to nearby drainages below MTM operations. To investigate the air quality impact of MTM, the geochemical characteristics of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) from five surface mining sites in south central West Virginia, USA, and five in-state study control sites having only underground coal mining or no coal mining whatsoever were determined and compared. Epidemiologic studies show increased rates of cancer, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and overall mortality in Appalachian surface mining areas compared to Appalachian non-mining areas. In the present study, 24-h coarse (>2.5 µm) and fine (≤2.5 µm) PM samples were collected from two surface mining sites in June 2011 showed pronounced enrichment in elements having a crustal affinity (Ga, Al, Ge, Rb, La, Ce) contributed by local sources, relative to controls. Follow-up sampling in August 2011 lacked this enrichment, suggesting that PM input from local sources is intermittent. Using passive samplers, dry deposition total PM elemental fluxes calculated for three surface mining sites over multi-day intervals between May and August 2012 were 5.8 ± 1.5 times higher for crustal elements than at controls. Scanning microscopy of 2,249 particles showed that primary aluminosilicate PM was prevalent at surface mining sites compared to secondary PM at controls. Additional testing is needed to establish any link between input of lithogenic PM and disease rates in the study area.

The public health impacts of surface coal mining

“…Samples were collected during all seasons. Particulate matter samples proximate to MTR revealed elevated levels of inorganics including silica, aluminum, and other rare earth elements that are present in the rock and soil around coal and are likely liberated by MTR activities (Kurth et al, 2015). For example, about 85% of particles from MTR areas were found to contain silica when examined under scanning electron microscopes, compared to 62% of particles from control sites.…”

“…The complex mix of anthropogenic and natural sources makes this a difficult undertaking. In a study by Kurth et al (2015), particulate matter was collected using high-volume active samplers placed outdoors in private household yards within a few kilometers of active MTR in West Virginia. Samples were collected during all seasons.…”

Characteristics, Sources, and Health Risk Assessment of Trace Elements in PM10 at an Urban Site in Chengdu, Southwest China

“…4): Aluminosilicate particles contain elements such as K, Na, Ca, Mg, and Fe (Kurth et al, 2014). These particles originate from combustion processes (Slezakova et al, 2008;Pipal et al, 2011) or crustal material re-suspensions (Murari et al, 2016).…”

Assessment of Air Pollution around the Panzhihua V-Ti Magnetite Mine Region, Southwest China

“…S2) are primarily composed of Si, Al, and Ca; Si, Al, K, and Si; or Si, Al, and Fe (Kurth et al, 2014), which were originally associated with either combustion (Slezakova et al, 2008;Pipal et al, 2011) or crustal processes (Martinez et al, 2008). These particles are abundant and have diverse morphological characteristics.…”