Cumulative Lead Exposure Resulting from Coal Power Plants in India

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Coal pollution can lead to a myriad of toxic exposures and toxicity resulting from coal power generation has not been well-defined. As part of this study, we sought to identify cumulative lead exposure measured as bone lead in communities living near coal power plants. METHODS: We chose three communities at 1 km (n=50), 9 km (n=50), and 38 km (n=50) from coal power plants near Chennai, India and measured their bone lead using a portable x-ray fluorescence device. RESULTS:The bone lead identified in all participants was significantly higher than that found in typical occupationally exposed populations in the United States. We identified a dependency on location with the community living within 1 km of coal power plants experiencing higher cumulative lead exposure than the community farthest from the coal power plants. Lead exposure decreased at a rate of 0.92 ug/g/km. From our models, a 40-year-old adult at 1 km from a coal power plant would have an average bone lead level of 22.3 ug/g, whereas a 40-year-old at 10 km would have an average bone lead level of 14.3 ug/g. Further, we identified a population of over 704,185 that would be living in communities within 1 km of a coal power plant, equivalent to our highest exposure group. CONCLUSIONS:Our study was the first to identify a relationship between cumulative lead exposure and coal pollution, demonstrating a dramatic increase in lead exposure for communities near coal power plants. The community within 1 km of the coal power plants experienced bone lead on average 1.5 times higher than our control group. The control group had higher cumulative lead exposure than typical occupational exposures in the United States. These exposures would lead to drastic consequences throughout the body including cardiovascular and neurologic health impacts while ultimately increasing mortality from all causes. KEYWORDS: Coal, lead, cumulative, xrf, India, bone lead