Soot Pollution from Coal-Fired Power Plants is More Deadly than Soot from Other Sources, Study Shows
taylorvich writes:
https://phys.org/news/2023-11-soot-pollution-coal-fired-power-deadly.html
Burning coal to generate electricity is on the way out in the United States, but the nation's long dependence on the fossil fuel took a devastating toll.
A new study determined for the first time that soot pollution from coal-fired power plants is more dangerous than soot from other sources. During the past two decades, the researchers found, coal plant soot contributed to the deaths of at least 460,000 Americans, including 25% of all deaths among Medicare recipients before 2009.
Only Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio recorded more deaths associated with coal plant pollution than the 25,000 deaths in Illinois during the period studied.
An interactive map accompanying the study, published in the journal Science, reveals glimmers of hope amid the grim statistics.
Deaths attributed to coal plant soot have declined dramatically in recent years as utilities closed scores of their dirtiest plants and cleaned up others-changes prompted by more stringent federal clean air regulations, competition from less expensive gas-fired power plants and legal pressure from environmental groups.
"The fact that they estimated more than 40,000 deaths a year two decades ago and the number is now down to 1,600 a year is a pretty remarkable success story," said Jonathan Levy, chair of the Department of Environmental Health at Boston University, who wasn't involved in the study.
Soot, also known as particulate matter, is a byproduct of incomplete combustion and can be formed by chemical reactions between sulfur dioxide emitted by fossil fuel power plants and other compounds in the atmosphere. The type of soot that most concerns public health researchers-PM2.5-is so tiny that thousands of the fine particles could fit on the period at the end of this sentence.
Breathing even small amounts can inflame the lungs and trigger asthma attacks. Previous studies have linked soot exposure with heart attacks and premature death.
Journal Reference:
Lucas Henneman et al, Mortality risk from United States coal electricity generation, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adf4915
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