Pollution From U.S. Coal Power Killed 460,000 People in Two Decades — Study

Power plants that burn coal might be responsible for more deaths than initially thought, and have contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, new research has found.

Exposure to coal PM2.5, which are tiny air pollutants released by burning coal, has a mortality risk 2.1 times higher than PM2.5 pollutants emitted by other sources, a new paper in the journal Science has found.

The study said that 460,000 deaths between 1999 and 2020 could be attributable to coal-burning power plants—most of which occurred between 1999 and 2007—with 10 of these plants each responsible for at least 5,000 deaths.

Coal PM2.5 has been previously assumed to be no more deadly than PM2.5 from any other sources. These findings imply that the benefits of reducing coal emissions may be greater than previously thought.

“PM2.5 from coal has been treated as if it’s just another air pollutant. But it’s much more harmful than we thought, and its mortality burden has been seriously underestimated,” Lucas Henneman, co-author of the paper and assistant professor in the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering at George Mason University, said in a statement. “These findings can help policymakers and regulators identify cost-effective solutions for cleaning up the country’s air, for example, by requiring emissions controls or encouraging utilities to use other energy sources, like renewables.”

The rate of deaths from PM2.5 has been much lower in recent years: an average of 43,000 deaths per year were due to coal PM2.5 between 1999 and 2007, but by 2020, this had reduced to 1,600 annual deaths. The researchers suggest that this is likely thanks to regulations on burning coal and the release of coal PM2.5.

“Beyond showing just how harmful coal pollution has been, we also show good news: Deaths from coal were highest in 1999 but by 2020 decreased by about 95 percent, as coal plants have installed scrubbers or shut down,” Henneman said.

Coal PM2.5 is comprised of tiny particles that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter, including sulfates, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, black carbon, mineral dust, and water, which can cause irritation to the nose, eyes, lungs and throat, and lead to increased chance of respiratory infections. Some of these substances…