Mortality from heart, respiratory, and kidney disease in coal mining areas of Appalachia

Hendryx, Michael

doi:10.1007/s00420-008-0328-y

Cited by 163 publications

(137 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…We used linear regression techniques to model predictors of ecological integrity and cancer mortality, and to evaluate socioeconomic covariates. Based on prior research (Hendryx and Ahern, 2008;Hendryx 2009), we evaluated county-level data on poverty, access to health care providers, extent of urbanization, education, and smoking (US Census, 2000;USDHSS, 2006;CDC, 2007).…”

Section: Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These elevated rates are partly the result of the persistent socioeconomic disadvantages that characterize coal mining areas, but even after statistical adjustment for education, poverty, smoking rates, physician supply, and other risks, some forms of cancer mortality remain elevated . Moreover, elevated rates of heart, lung, and kidney disease are associated with coal mining in Appalachia, after controlling for other risk variables (Hendryx et al, 2007;Hendryx and Ahern, 2008;Hendryx, 2009). We reasoned that if environmental contamination from coal mining was a contributing factor for human disease, ecological integrity should be negatively related to cancer and coal mining.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecological Integrity of Streams Related to Human Cancer Mortality Rates

Hitt

Hendryx

2010

EcoHealth

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Assessments of ecological integrity have become commonplace for biological conservation, but their role for public health analysis remains largely unexplored. We tested the prediction that the ecological integrity of streams would provide an indicator of human cancer mortality rates in West Virginia, USA. We characterized ecological integrity using an index of benthic macroinvertebrate community structure (West Virginia Stream Condition Index, SCI) and quantified human cancer mortality rates using county-level data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Regression and spatial analyses revealed significant associations between ecological integrity and public health. SCI was negatively related to age-adjusted total cancer mortality per 100,000 people. Respiratory, digestive, urinary, and breast cancer rates increased with ecological disintegrity, but genital and oral cancer rates did not. Smoking, poverty, and urbanization were significantly related to total cancer mortality, but did not explain the observed relationships between ecological integrity and cancer. Coal mining was significantly associated with ecological disintegrity and higher cancer mortality.Spatial analyses also revealed cancer clusters that corresponded to areas of high coal mining intensity. Our results demonstrated significant relationships between ecological integrity and human cancer mortality in West Virginia, and suggested important effects of coal mining on ecological communities and public health.Assessments of ecological integrity therefore may contribute not only to monitoring goals for aquatic life, but also may provide valuable insights for human health and safety.

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Section: Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Integrity of Streams Related to Human Cancer Mortality Rates

Hitt

Hendryx

2010

EcoHealth

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“…Coal also contains mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, manganese, beryllium, chromium and other toxic and carcinogenic substances [28]. Coal mining, processing and washing releases large amounts of chemicals and particulate matter annually, which contaminate water and harm ecological systems and community public health [51][52][53][54][55]. Coal transportation leads to CO2, CH4 and NOX emissions.…”

Section: External Costs Of a 600 Mw Coal-fired Power Plantmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monetization of External Costs Using Lifecycle Analysis—A Comparative Case Study of Coal-Fired and Biomass Power Plants in Northeast China

Wang

Watanabe

Xu³

2015

Energies

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Abstract:In this study, the structures of external costs are built in line with coal-fired and biomass power plant life cycle activities in Northeast China. The external cost of coal-fired and biomass power plants was compared, using the lifecycle approach. In addition, the external costs of a biomass power plant are calculated for each stage for comparison with those of a coal-fired power plant. The results highlight that the external costs of a coal-fired plant are 0.072 US $/kWh, which are much higher than that of a biomass power plant, 0.00012 US$/kWh. The external cost of coal-fired power generation is as much as 90% of the current price of electricity generated by coal, while the external cost of a biomass power plant is 1/1000 of the current price of electricity generated by biomass. In addition, for a biomass power plant, the external cost associated with SO2, NOX, and PM2.5 are particularly lower than those of a coal-fired power plant. The prospect of establishing precise estimations for external cost mechanisms and sustainable energy policies is discussed to show a possible direction for future energy schemes in China. The paper has significant value for supporting the biomass power industry and taxing or regulating coal-fired power industry to optimize the energy structure in China. OPEN ACCESSEnergies 2015, 8 1441

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“…Earlier studies (Aneja et al 2012;Hendryx 2009;Tecer et al 2008;Pless-Mulloli et al 2001) show that PM from different mining operations contributes to significant adverse effect on human health in the form of black lung, asthma, cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer. PM generated during mining operations at the workplace (called "bench") disperses in the mine by moving to several benches and contributes to the enhanced concentration at different parts of the mine .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction of particulate matter concentration profile in an opencast copper mine in India using an artificial neural network model

Patra

Gautam

Majumdar

et al. 2015

Air Qual Atmos Health

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Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Particulate matter (PM) is a major pollutant in and around opencast mine areas. The problem of degradation of air quality due to opencast mine is more severe than those in underground mine. Prediction of dust concentration must be known to implement control strategies and techniques to control air quality degradation in the workplace environment. Limited studies have reported the dispersion profile and travel time of PM between the benches inside the mine. In this paper, PM concentration has been measured and modeled in Malanjkhand Copper Project (MCP), which is one of the deepest opencast copper mines in India. Meteorological parameters (wind speed, temperature, relative humidity) and PM concentration in seven size ranges (i.e., PM0.23–0.3, PM0.3–0.4, PM0.4–0.5, PM0.5–0.65, PM0.65–0.8, PM0.8–1, and PM1–1.6) have been measured for 8 days. The results of the field study provide an understanding of the dispersion of the PM generated due to mining activities. This research work presents an approach to assess the exposure of enhanced level of PM concentration on mine workers and its variation with depth. The correlations study shows that concentration of PM during its travel from source to surface is associated with depth. Empirical equations are developed to represent relationships between concentrations of PM and depth. Artificial neural network (ANN) model showing the relationship between PM concentration and meteorological parameters has been developed. The performance of the ANN model is evaluated in terms of the correlation coefficient between the real and the forecasted data. The results show strong agreement between the experimental data and the modeled output. The findings of this work are important in understanding fine PM variation inside the mine at the workplace and the associated exposure of mine workers

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Mortality from heart, respiratory, and kidney disease in coal mining areas of Appalachia

Cited by 163 publications

References 33 publications

Ecological Integrity of Streams Related to Human Cancer Mortality Rates

Ecological Integrity of Streams Related to Human Cancer Mortality Rates

Monetization of External Costs Using Lifecycle Analysis—A Comparative Case Study of Coal-Fired and Biomass Power Plants in Northeast China

Prediction of particulate matter concentration profile in an opencast copper mine in India using an artificial neural network model

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