A global perspective on the health impacts of coal and coal ash: Facts and fallacies

Transcription

1 A global perspective on the health impacts of coal and coal ash: Facts and fallacies Dr. Robert B. Finkelman Emeritus Scientist U.S. Geological Survey

2 Coal mining Fly ash Acid mine drainage Coal Impacts Coal combustion Storage Waste piles piles Spontaneous combustion

3 Factors affecting the environmental and health impacts of coal Composition of the coal - Organic, inorganic, mineralogy, element modes of occurrence Ash yield Mining practices Transportation and storage practices Boiler type and combustion conditions Pollution control technology Climate Geology Ash utilization and disposal technology

4 Table 2. Arithmetic means and standard deviations (S.D.) for 78 elements in U.S. coal. (All values are on a w hole-coal basis. Data are from the U.S. Geological Survey's National Coal Resources Data System (NCRDS) except for estimated values (in parenthes Arithmetic Standard Maximum Component Mean Deviation Value No. of Samples Ash % Aluminum (Al) % Antimony (Sb) ppm Arsenic (As) ppm Barium (Ba) ppm Beryllium (Be) ppm Bismuth (Bi) ppm (<1.0) n.d Boron (B) ppm Bromine (Br) ppm Cadmium (Cd) ppm Calcium (Ca) % Carbon (C) % Cerium (Ce) ppm Cesium (Cs) ppm Chlorine (Cl) ppm Chromium (Cr) ppm Cobalt (Co) ppm Copper (Cu) ppm Dysprosium (Dy) ppm Erbium (Er) ppm Europium (Eu) ppm Fluorine (F) ppm Gadolinium (Gd) ppm (1.8) n.d Gallium (Ga) ppm Germanium (Ge) ppm Gold (Au) ppm (<0.05) n.d. n.d. n.d. Hafnium (Hf) ppm Holmium (Ho) ppm (0.35) n.d Hydrogen (H) % Indium (In) ppm (<0.3) n.d. n.d. n.d. Iodine (I) ppm (<1.0) n.d. n.d. n.d. Iridium (Ir) ppm (<0.001) n.d. n.d. n.d. Iron (Fe) % Lanthanum (La) ppm Lead (Pb) ppm Lithium (Li) ppm Lutetium (Lu) ppm Magnesium (Mg) % Manganese (Mn) ppm Mercury (Hg) ppm

5 Palladium (pd) ppm (<0.001) n.d. n.d. n.d. Niobium (Nb) ppm Nitrogen (N) % Osmium (Os) ppm (<0.001) n.d. n.d. n.d. Oxygen (O) % Phosphorus (P) ppm Platinum (Pt) ppm (<0.001) n.d. n.d. n.d. Potassium (K) % Praseodymium (Pr) ppm (2.4) n.d Rhenium (Re) ppm (<0.001) n.d. n.d. n.d. Rhodium (Rh) ppm (<0.001) n.d. n.d. n.d. Rubidium (Rb) ppm Ruthenium (Ru) ppm (<0.001) n.d. n.d. n.d. Samarium (Sm) ppm Scandium (Sc) ppm Selenium (Se) ppm Silicon (Si) % Silver (Ag) ppm (<0.1) Sodium (Na) % Strontium (Sr) ppm Sulfur (S) % Tantalum (Ta) ppm Tellurium (Te) ppm (<0.1) n.d. n.d. n.d. Terbium (Tb) ppm Thallium (Tl) ppm Thorium (Th) ppm Thulium (Tm) ppm (0.15) n.d Tin (Sn) ppm Titanium (Ti) % Tungsten (W) ppm Uranium (U) ppm Vanadium (V) ppm Utterbium (Yb) ppm (0.95) n.d Yttrium (Y) ppm Zinc (Zn) ppn Zironium (Zr) ppm

6 MINERALS IN COAL Accessories Galena (PbS) Sphalerite (Zn, CdS) Clausthalite (PbSe) Chalcopyrite (CuS) Crandallite Group (Ca, Ba, Sr, Al, P) Monazite (REE, P) Apatite (Ca, P) Barite (Ba, S) Rutile (Ti) Zircon (Zr, Si) Feldspars (Ca, Na, K, Al, Si) Zeolites (Ca, Na, K, Al, Si) Ankerite (Fe, Mg, Ca) Micas (K, Fe, Mg, Ti, Al, Si)

7 Table 4. Probable modes of occurrence of selected elements in coal [Modified from Finkelman (1982)] Element Modes of Occurrence Aluminium - Clays, feldspars, perhaps some organic association Antimony - Accessory sulfide, some organic association Arsenic - Solid solution in pyrite Barium - Barite, crandallite, organic association in low-rank coal Beryllium - Organic association, clay Bismuth - Accessory sulfide Boron - Organic association, illite Bromine - Organic association Cadmium - Sphalerite Calcium - Calcite, organic assoc., sulphates, phosphates, silicates Cesium - Clays, feldspar, mica Chlorine - Organic association Chromium - Clays (?) Cobalt - Accessory sulfides, pyrite Copper - Chalcopyrite Fluorine - Perhaps apatite, clays, mica, amphiboles Gallium - Clays, organics, sulfides Germanium - Organic association Gold - Native gold Hafnium - Zircon Indium - Probably sulfides Iodine - Probably organic association Iron - Pyrite, siderite, sulfates, oxides, some organic assoc. Lead - Galena, PbSe

8 Lithium - Clays Magnesium - Clays Manganese - Siderite, calcite Mercury - Solid solution with pyrite Molybdenum - Unclear; perhaps with sulfides or organics Nickel - Unclear; perhaps with sulfides, organics, or clay Niobium - Oxides Phosphorus - Phosphates Platinum - Native alloys, perhaps some organic association Rare-earths - Phosphates, some organic association Rubidium - Probably illite Scandium - Unclear; clays, phosphates, or organics Selenium - Organic association, pyrite, PbSe Silicon - Quartz, clays, silicates Silver - Perhaps silver sulfides Sodium - Organic association, clays, zeolites, silicates Strontium - Carbonates, phosphates, organic association Tantalum - Oxides Tellurium - Unclear Thorium - Rare-earth phosphates Tin - Inorganic: tin oxides or sulfides Titanium - Oxides, clays, some organic association Tungsten - Oxides, organic association Uranium - Organic association, zircon Vanadium - Clays, perhaps some organic association Yttrium - Rare-earth phosphates Zinc - Sphalerite Zirconium - Zircon

9 FACT Trace Elements in Coal Can Kill or Maim

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19 Trace Elements in Coal Are Known to Have Killed or Maimed Millions Around the World FALLACY

20 Known Health Impacts from Trace Elements in Coal China arsenic poisoning from residential coal use China fluorine poisoning from residential coal use China Selenosis from stone coal ash Czechoslovakia Impaired hearing in children attributed to arsenic emitted from power plant Czechoslovakia Increased antibodies attributed to beryllium exposure from power plant India Various health problems from uncontrolled mine fire Global Mercury affect on fetuses???

21 Burning Coal Beds and Stockpiles are Significant Health Hazards FACT

22 Jharia Coalfield, India Witbank Coalfield South Africa Open Cast Mine Fire, Northern China Anthracite Region, U.S.A.

23 Arsenic Phases

24 Selenium Minerals Fluorine Minerals

25 Impacts of Spontaneous Combustion Collected samples of gas and condensates from a coal mine in the Witbank area, SA. Huge concentrations of benzene, toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene Small (<10 μm) grains containing mercury and minute (~ 1 μm) globules containing arsenic.

26 Coal in the Ground Does Not Present Any Health Threats FALLACY

27 BALKAN ENDEMIC NEPHROPATHY (BEN)

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29 BEN patient being treated in dialysis clinic (Romania) groundwater percolates through coal seam rural wells may supply tainted drinking water

30 endemic endemic nonendemic GC/MS total ion current

31 Trace Elements in Fly Ash Can Present a Health Hazard FACT

32 TABLE 25 Effect of Fly-Ash Particle Size on the Concentration of Some Trace Elements (ppm) a Size Range (um) Element > <3 As Be Cd Co Cr Cu Ga Mn Mo Ni Pb Sb Se U V W Zn a Source: Ondov et al. (1979).

33 Cr in Ash: XAFS Cr can be found as: Cr/spinel associated with magnetic iron oxides. Cr associated with aluminosilicate glass. Oxidation State of Cr Often <5% Cr as Cr(VI) in bottom ash and fly-ash from bituminous coals. Rarely up to 20% Cr as Cr(VI) in fly-ash from lower-rank coals. Normalized Absorption Wyodak HTA 52% Cr(VI) Fly-Ash 20% Cr(VI) Fly-ash <5% Cr(VI) Bottom Ash <5% Cr(VI) Energy, ev

34 Coal fly ash Biofluid leach studies of coal fly ash material are being linked to mineralogical characterization studies

35 Coal fly ash leach tests

36 Coal fly ash Our simulated biofluid leach tests indicate that a variety of metals and metalloids can be somewhat bioaccessible in the fly ash, depending upon the coal source for the fly ash Molybdenum, arsenic, zinc, chromium, thallium, and selenium tend to be the elements that are most bioaccessible

37 FALLACY Radioactivity from Coal and Coal Ash Presents a Threat to Health

38 Typical Range of Uranium concentration in coal, fly ash, and a variety of common rocks Basaltic rock U.S. coals Common shales Granitic rock Fly ash = 10x U.S. coals Black shales Phosphate rock URANIUM CONCENTRATION (ppm)

39 Photograph of hollow glassy fly ash particle (0.01 cm D) Fission track radiograph of the same particle

40 FACT There is still much to learn about coal Complicated coal workers pneumoconiosis Progressive massive pulmonary fibrosis in a coal worker

41 Coal Miners Black Lung Disease

42 Solutions to these problems are risky and costly FALLACY

43 Arsenic Field Test Kits Test kit developed in China to identify arsenic-rich coals in the field. Commercial version (left) being introduced by U.S. manufacturer. Testing has resulted in closure of mines with highest As coal.

44 Basa Njengo Magogo

45 Burning Coal Can Be Good For Your Health FACT

46 40% OF THE WORLD S POPULATION LIVING IN IDD AREAS ARE IN CHINA Iodine content of Chili Peppers dried by different fuels dr i ed by wood dr i ed by wood dr i ed by coal dr i ed by coal I/mg/ kg US & US and World Ave ave. I I in in coal coal = 1ppm, = 1ppm, GuizhouGiuzhou coal = 8 ppmcoal = 8 ppm

47 Thank you