Mountaintop Mining and Public HealthMichael Hendryx, PhD

Indiana University

NIEHS PEPH Webinar

December 12, 2017

Mountaintop Mining

• Removes entire tops of mountains and ridges

• Explosives and draglines reach coal seams hundreds of feet deep

• Spoil is deposited into adjacent valleys, burying headwater streams

• Occurs in Central Appalachia over an area about 18,000 square miles

• Occurs close to human populations (~1.2 million)

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Photo: Paul Corbit Brown

Explosion over the town of Dorothy

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Well water in the town of Rawl, West Virginia

5Photo: Antrim Casky, 2008 Photo: Nat Geographic, 2006

Early Mortality Studies

• Coal mining associated with higher

– Total mortality • Public Health Reports 2009

– Lung cancer mortality• Lung Cancer 2008

– Heart, lung and kidney disease mortality• IAOEH 2009

• Effects stronger as mining amounts increase

• Effects present for males and females

Early Morbidity Studies

• Coal mining associated with – higher rates of chronic cardiovascular, respiratory, and

kidney disease• American J Public Health, 2008

– higher rates of heart attack and coronary heart disease • Preventive Medicine, 2009

– more days of poor health and activity limitations• Public Health Reports, 2010

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Age-adjusted death rates 1968-2014

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68

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82

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84

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86

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90

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92

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Age-adjusted total mortality rates per 100,000 by MTR status (KY, TN, VA, WV)

MTR Other Appalachian Non-Appalachian

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68

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72

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Excess Age-adjusted mortality per 100,000 in MTR areas relative to other

Appalachia and non-Appalachia (KY, TN, VA, WV)

Dif MTR-othapp Dif MTR-nonapp

Environmental Science and Policy, 2016

Birth Defects in MTR Areas: Adjusted Prevalence Ratios

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[Blank Cell] MTR Other Mining No Mining

Age-adjusted only 1.63 (1.54, 1.72) 1.27 (1.20, 1.35) 1

Adjusted 1.26 (1.21, 1.32) 1.10 (1.05, 1.16) 1

Environmental Research 2011

Birth Defects in MTR Areas

• Adjusted MTR PRRs by early versus late period:

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[Blank Cell] 1996-1999 2000-2003

Circulatory/respiratory* 1.20 (1.03, 1.41) 2.81 (2.43, 3.25)

CNS 1.42 (1.06, 1.91) 1.30 (0.95, 1.76)

Gastrointestinal* 1.30 (0.94, 1.80) 1.53 (1.18, 1.96)

Urogenital* 1.16 (0.94, 1.42) 1.62 (1.38, 1.93)

Musculoskeletal 1.31 (1.17, 1.46) 1.30 (1.15, 1.46)

Chromosomal 1.21 (0.89, 1.64) 0.68 (0.46, 1.03)

Other* 0.99 (0.88, 1.12) 1.29 (1.15, 1.45)

Any* 1.13 (1.06, 1.21) 1.42 (1.33, 1.52)

* Higher in later period

Symptoms in MTR Areas

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Point estimate

Lower 95% CI

Upper 95% CI

Prevalence ratios controlling for age, sex, education, marital status, current and former smoking, overweight and obesity, occupational exposure. J Rural Health 2013

Family Illness in MTR Areas

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MTR Smoking Obesity

Serious household illness Household cancer death

Prevalence ratios controlling for age, sex, education, marital status, current and former smoking, overweight and obesity, occupational exposure. (JRH 2013)

Respiratory Symptoms Are Consistently Higher

Survey in western Virginia in 2013. (IJEHR 2014)

MTR Dust in People’s Yards• Primarily silicon, sulfur and

other elements (e.g., Al, Fe, Ti) suggestive of overburden– Sulfur 38%

– Silica 24%

– PM10

• Analyses for organics identified higher PAHs in MTR area

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MTR

No MTR

Blank

Microcirculation 2012; Environmental Geochemistry & Health 2015

Ultrafines

[Blank Cell]

Total Count /cm3(Residential areas*)

Total count/cm3(Roadways)

MTR 6830 26,468

Control in WV

4770 16,201

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• Particulate matter <o.1µ• High surface to volume toxicity, high deposition rate

*J Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology 2014

Respirable Particle Counts

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Mining* Control

Adjusted particle counts (0.5 - 5.0 um) per cubic foot, indoor and outdoor mining samples

Indoor Outdoor *Higher in Mining Group, P<.05

Extractive Industries & Society 2015

PAHs in 24 hr. hi-volume samplers

Figure 2. Total PAH (µg/filter/24hr) and standard

error in MTM and control locations.

Partial PAH list includes: • Anthracene• Phenanthrene• Perylene• Flouranthene• Benzo[a]pyrene• Benz[a]anthracene• Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene• Chrysene

Organics - Hi-Vol Fine Air Filter from MTM ResidenceGC-MS Extracted Ion Chromatogram

8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00 20.00 22.00 24.00 26.00 28.00 30.00 32.00 34.00 36.00 38.00 40.00 42.00 44.00 46.00 48.00 50.00 52.00 54.000

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Time-->

Abundance

Ion 178.00Ion 202.00Ion 228.00Ion 252.00

Ion 276.00

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Results for organics in MTM areas are dominated by alkylated low mol. wt. compounds and low mol. wt. PAH’s (circled) indicating contribution by coal dust, rather than coal combustion.

MTR Dust Impairs Vascular Function

19Microcirculation, 2012

MTR dust “induces neoplastic transformation, accelerates cell proliferation, enhances cell migration”

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PM-CON PM-MTR

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PM MTR

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Day 0 Day 2 Day 5

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Environmental Science & Technology 2015

Elevated Levels of Blood Inflammation

• Small study (N=49)

– All non-smokers, non-miners

• Mean adjusted C-reactive protein:

– 0.6 mg/L non-mining VS4.9 mg/L mining (p<.03).

– (>3.0 mg/L indicates health risk)

4.9

0.6

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Mining Control

CRP mg/L in Mining and Control

Samples

CRP mg/L

Extractive Industries & Society 2015

Current Project• NIEHS R15 to investigate exposure to PAHs

and flame retardants (OPFRs) in MTR and control communities

– 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate

• Correlate exposures to blood markers of inflammation and thyroid function

R15ES026394-01A1 (Hendryx, PI)

Preliminary Bracelet Results

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Geometric Means for All Measured PAHs, West Virginia 2016 Pilot Study (N=20)

Control geometric mean MTR geometric mean

Public Water Uncertainties

• Public water quality violations 2001-2009 in West Virginia:

– 86 per facility in MTR areas

– 15 per facility in rest of the state

– Most violations were failures to sample for organics as required

Water Quality, Exposure & Health 2012

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Water Conductivity• The EPA established that water from

MTR sites should have maximum conductivity 500 microsiemens/cm. A healthy mountain stream will average about 100.

• USGS samples:

• 17 MTR drinking water samples = 552

(vs. 267 in 7 Non-MTR drinking water samples)

• 10 former MTR ground water drinking

samples = 1,614

• 15 MTR stream samples (non-drinking)

= 1,234

(vs. 95 in 3 non-MTR streams)

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Mountaintop Mining Consequences

– Presented new and existing data on ecosystem and public health impacts

– Called for end to MTR because it cannot be done within the law (i.e. the Clean Water Act)

• Reclamation efforts fail

• Streams are never re-created

• Downstream water quality is impaired– Palmer, Bernhardt, Schlesinger, Eshleman, Foufoula-Georgiou,

Hendryx, et al. Science, 2010, 327, 148-149

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What’s Next?

Acknowledgements (a partial list)• Melissa Ahern

• Emily Bernhardt

• Judy Bonds

• Loretta Cain

• Jamison Conley

• Lynn Crosby• Alan Ducatman

• Mark Engle• Jennifer Entwhistle

• Paul Epstein

• Evan Fedorko

• Florence Fulk

• Larry Gibson

• Maria Gunnoe

• Than Hitt

• Ben Holland

• John Hollander

• Peter Illyn

• Kestrel Innes-Wimsatt

• Allen Johnson

• Janet Keating

• Emily Kenny

• Travis Knuckles

• Laura Kurth• Sudjit Luanpitpong• Juhua Luo• Stephanie Lusk• Michael McCawley• Andrea McGinley• Mary Miller, Elizabeth Canto, and Paula Cantebury

(The Dustbusters)• Jessica Myrick• Chuck Nelson• Tim Nurkiewicz• Kathryn O’Donnell• William Orem• Margaret Palmer• Yon Rojanasakul• Amina Salamova• Heather Stapleton• Vivian Stockman• Ben Stout• Paula Swearingen• Calin Tatu• Marta Venier• Bo Webb• Dustin White• Leah Wolfe• Sarah Yonts• Keith Zullig