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Coal ash contains many toxic substances that may affect human health, if people are exposed to them above a certain concentration in the form of particulate matter.So it is necessary to avoid situations in which employees working in coal-fired power plants or public members living close to coal ash landfills will be exposed to high coal ash dust concentrations. [4]
The Mpumalanga highveld in South Africa is the most polluted area in the world due to the mining industry and coal plant power stations [37] and the lowveld near the famous Kruger Park is under threat of new mine projects as well. [38] Illustration of air pollutants generated by U.S. power plants (includes both coal-fired and oil-fired plants)
Coal power plant wastestreams. Coal burning power plants kill many thousands of people every year with their emissions of particulates, microscopic air pollutants that enter human lungs and other human organs and induce a variety of adverse medical conditions, including asthma, heart disease, low birth weight and cancers.
Coal mining accidents resulted in 5,938 immediate deaths in 2005, and 4746 immediate deaths in 2006 in China alone according to the World Wildlife Fund. [10] Coal mining is the most dangerous occupation in China, the death rate for every 100 tons of coal mined is 100 times that of the death rate in the US and 30 times that achieved in South Africa.
Newly built coal-fired power plants can be made to immediately use gasification of the coal prior to combustion. This makes it much easier to separate off the CO 2 from the exhaust fumes, making the process cheaper. This gasification process is done in new coal-burning power plants such as the coal-burning power plant at Tianjin, called "GreenGen".
For use in thermal power plants, coal is ground into dust using a device called a powdered coal mill. [1] The resulting product, called powdered coal or pulverized coal, is then generally used in a fossil fuel power plant for electricity generation. Pulverized coal is a significant dust explosion hazard, as large quantities are suspended in air ...
Power plant emissions of mercury in the United States are thought to be about 50 tons per year in 2003, and several hundred tons per year in China. Power plant designers can fit equipment to power stations to reduce emissions. Coal mining practices in the United States have also included strip mining and removing mountain tops. Mill tailings ...
Black lung disease (BLD), also known as coal workers' pneumoconiosis, [1] or simply black lung, is an occupational type of pneumoconiosis caused by long-term inhalation and deposition of coal dust in the lungs and the consequent lung tissue's reaction to its presence. [2] It is common in coal miners and others who work with coal.