U.S. Coal Mining Linked To Birth Defects

[lakhota]

Mountaintop Removal Mining Birth Defects: New Study Suggests Controversial Coal Operations Linked To Adverse Health Effects

Researchers found "significantly higher" rates of birth defects in babies born near mountaintop removal mining sites than those in non-mining areas, according to a new study released last week.

Mountaintop removal mining is a particularly environmentally destructive type of resource extraction that involves using explosives to blow the tops off of mountains to expose coal underneath the soil and rock. The unusable dirt and gravel are then disposed of in adjacent valleys and streams. MTR is used prominently in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States.

The mining study, published in the journal Environmental Research, examined over 1.8 million live birth records from 1996 to 2003 using National Center for Health Statistics data from the central Appalachian states of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

It found that rates for six out of seven types of birth defects -- circulatory/respiratory, central nervous system, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, urogenital and "other" -- were increased near MTR sites. The research suggests that contaminants are released into nearby environments from MTR, and that many of the contaminants are known to impair fetal development.

"Rates for any anomaly were approximately 235 per 100,000 live births in the mountaintop mining area versus 144 per 100,000 live births in the non-mining area," the study says. Although not as high as near MTR sites, it also found increased incidences of birth defects in communities near underground mines.

"This is monumental," said Bob Kincaid, the president of Coal River Mountain Watch (CRMW). He told The Huffington Post that this latest research is just one more among a dozen or so earlier studies "that shows that the coal industry, especially mountaintop removal, is engaged in the wholesale poisoning of Appalachia."

"For those who actually pay attention to science, it's irrefutable,” Kincaid said. "Would it be more obvious if the coal industry were using machine guns or gas chambers?"

More: www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/27/mountaintop-removal-coal-mining-birth-defects_n_885172.html

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

[mmhmm]

That really is sad. The people who live in those areas, and work those mines, have enough difficulty in their lives.

[Value Buy]

Lakhota-- better turn off the computer and house lights, disconnect from the grid entirely, and save a child.
Obviously, you are adding to the misery.

[lakhota]

Jun 28, 2011 0:12:07 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Lakhota-- better turn off the computer and house lights, disconnect from the grid entirely, and save a child.
Obviously, you are adding to the misery.

I appreciate your heartfelt concern.

[pappyjohn99]

Imagine how many will die when we are forced back to the hunter-gatherer stage.

[handyman2]

Having been raised in this area I wonder if they took into account the high alcohol and diet factors in the study. That could be a factor also.

[lakhota]

Jun 28, 2011 2:14:54 GMT -5 handyman2 said:

Having been raised in this area I wonder if they took into account the high alcohol and diet factors in the study. That could be a factor also.

Is that a serious question...?

[cme1201]

From the Article

While the recent Environmental Research study reveals a spike in birth defects near MTR operations, the data can't be used to conclusively pin any specific environmental factor as the cause, the study's co-author said. "What we think is happening is that there isn't just one type of exposure. There is air quality problems in some areas, water quality problems in other areas," Dr. Michael Hendryx told The Huffington Post.

Title of Article

Mountaintop Removal Mining Birth Defects: New Study Suggests Controversial Coal Operations Linked To Adverse Health Effects

So We have an enviromental problem that can not be pin pointed, yet the new study suggests.

Lakhota's reply to Handyman2 in Reply 7:

Is that a serious question...?

From article:

Furthermore, the study noted various socioeconomic factors could account for a variance in birth defects, but said that they "remain elevated after controlling for those risks." Critics of the research argue that these factors weren't fully accounted for.

So yes, I would guess that handyman2 asked a serious question, as it is partially addressed in the article.

So as the article states you can not blame it entirely on MTR as the article states, many factors come into play, one factor suggested, note the word from the actual title, is MTR.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

Having been raised in this area I wonder if they took into account the high alcohol and diet factors in the study. That could be a factor also.

I have family back there too. Another factor could be that until about 100 years ago, let's just say some family trees in that area didn't have a whole lot of branches. Definitely needs more study.

[lakhota]

Some of you people are really pathetic. You ignore the reality of the article and talk crazy shit.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

Look, I'm not saying the waste is harmless. I just think it's jumping to conclusions that it's just one thing causing this.

[lakhota]

Jun 28, 2011 16:50:43 GMT -5 Mad Dawg Wiccan said:

Look, I'm not saying the waste is harmless. I just think it's jumping to conclusions that it's just one thing causing this.

A typical anti-science response! Have you also ignored all the other umpteen reports and studies supporting the same conclusions?

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

I have a good scientific background, both in geology and biology. I haven't seen the other studies, you just presented the one. I do know it's bad science to find a correlation and claim you've found a cause without exploring other options.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

Also, I'm not dismissing the article out of hand. I'm saying more research needs to be done.

[vonnie6200]

Jun 28, 2011 17:55:26 GMT -5 Mad Dawg Wiccan said:

I have a good scientific background, both in geology and biology. I haven't seen the other studies, you just presented the one. I do know it's bad science to find a correlation and claim you've found a cause without exploring other options.

cool - what kind of biology? I studied biology, chemistry and accounting

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

Human and micro, I was trying to get into the nursing program.

[lakhota]

I have yet to see any credible reports/studies showing that the brutal practice of MTR is making people sick because they are inbred alcoholics with poor diets.

Sadly, many (probably most) of these people don't have the resources to leave their once-cherished environment even if they wanted to. Where would they go? What would they do?

For anyone who really cares about this issue, I invite you to google "mountaintop removal mining making people sick" or something similar. These people are powerless to stand up to the forces of big coal. Their only hope is for environmentally conscious people to stand up for them. It's a sad situation.

[rileyoday]

Most of the men and women that work in mining could go anywhere and do anything ... IF they wanted to leave their homes. Most will not leave.

The coal fields of WV have supplied this countries needs very well.
Those people are special.

I am in Charleston WV. You have to see the coal pouring out of here to believe it. Hard to describe.

[lakhota]

Jun 28, 2011 19:47:27 GMT -5 rileyoday said:

Most of the men and women that work in mining could go anywhere and do anything ... IF they wanted to leave their homes. Most will not leave.

The coal fields of WV have supplied this countries needs very well.
Those people are special.

I am in Charleston WV. You have to see the coal pouring out of here to believe it. Hard to describe.

Really? We're talking about MTR surface mining that is mostly accomplished with explosives and heavy equipment.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

I have yet to see any credible reports/studies showing that the brutal practice of MTR is making people sick because they are inbred alcoholics with poor diets.

Nobody said there were any. Being trained in science, it pings my radar whenever someone claims to have found a smoking gun on environmental issues. Appalachia is certainly not the only place in the world where this process is used. Do other places use the same SOP of dumping pre coal seam waste nearby? Are the birth defect rates similar there? If so, it lends credibility to the argument. If not, other factors must be considered, factors mentioned here.
Alcoholism among (at least) American coal miners is well documented. It's a fact that Ginger Ale/Ginger Beer was so named in the 1800s as to get coal miners to drink something non-alcoholic. I don't blame the miners, coal mining is hard, dangerous work. If I were a miner I doubt I would have ever put the bottle down myself.

Pollution from the waste may very well be the culprit. All I'm saying is that it's too early in the game to declare it as fact.

[lakhota]

Being trained in science, it pings my radar whenever someone claims to have found a smoking gun on environmental issues.

Yeah...

[cme1201]

Jun 28, 2011 20:08:31 GMT -5 @lakhota said:

Jun 28, 2011 19:47:27 GMT -5 rileyoday said:

Most of the men and women that work in mining could go anywhere and do anything ... IF they wanted to leave their homes. Most will not leave.

The coal fields of WV have supplied this countries needs very well.
Those people are special.

I am in Charleston WV. You have to see the coal pouring out of here to believe it. Hard to describe.

Really? We're talking about MTR surface mining that is mostly accomplished with explosives and heavy equipment.

Really, who do you think sets the explosives and mans the heavy equipment, because they sure can't do it themselves.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

Laugh all you want, but we're really not all that far apart on this issue. The difference is that you believe the cause has been found, and I believe other factors have to be ruled out first.
I'm thinking back to the mid to late 1970s, when environmental scientists had consensus that the Earth was beginning an new ice age. Did you know there was serious consideration given to coating the polar ice caps with soot to help slow their growth? Given what you now hold to be true, aren't you glad they didn't?

[handyman2]

Lakhota is making an argument about a region that he knows nothing about. Is mining dangerous? Sure it is. Do miners get black lung from it? yes they do but these things are not the only reason people in a region suffer from certain problems. There are other factors that impact them as well so all the problems cannot be attributed to just one cause. Yet statisticians want to seem to do that.

[lakhota]

Lakhota is making an argument about a region that he knows nothing about.

You have no idea how wrong that statement is.

[handyman2]

Sorry Lakhota but your posts do not show any indication of it. I was born schooled and lived and still do in Appalachia. There is a lot there that impacts the region just as much as coal mining. From life styles to economics. My dad was a miner.

[lakhota]

Jun 28, 2011 21:09:00 GMT -5 handyman2 said:

Sorry Lakhota but your posts do not show any indication of it. I was born schooled and lived and still do in Appalachia. There is a lot there that impacts the region just as much as coal mining. From life styles to economics. My dad was a miner.

Again, we're talking about MTR surface mining that is mostly accomplished with massive amounts of explosives and heavy equipment - not underground mining.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

It seems to me that the issue isn't the explosives or heavy equipment, but the dumping of the soil above the coal into nearby valleys which might contaminate the water supply. Use of explosives and heavy equipment in surface mining is nothing new. If anything, that argument gives credence to the theory that something else is causing the problem because it hasn't appeared elsewhere.

[ed1066]

Jun 28, 2011 20:44:38 GMT -5 Mad Dawg Wiccan said:

Laugh all you want, but we're really not all that far apart on this issue. The difference is that you believe the cause has been found, and I believe other factors have to be ruled out first.
I'm thinking back to the mid to late 1970s, when environmental scientists had consensus that the Earth was beginning an new ice age. Did you know there was serious consideration given to coating the polar ice caps with soot to help slow their growth? Given what you now hold to be true, aren't you glad they didn't?

but good luck getting a liberal to admit they have ever heard of the global cooling predictions...most of them will ignore it or flat out deny it...