Epidemiological monitoring in the vicinity of a coal-fired power plant

Abstract

An epidemiological monitoring program has been designed and put into operation in response to a health monitoring requirement of a permit to build a coal-fired power plant. It will consist of four 350 megawatt units and is being built on the Mediterranean coast about halfway between Tel-Aviv and Haifa; the first unit became operational in 1981. The resident population within a 10 km. radius consists of about 69,000 persons. The permit to build this power plant required the installation of a comprehensive monitoring network including environmental, health and agricultural monitoring. Four types of studies are included in the epidemiological monitoring program: mortality analyses, monitoring of requests for health services, studies of pulmonary symptoms and lung function in school children, and panel studies of children and adults with chronic pulmonary conditions. Areas of maximal expected exposure risk and two other comparable areas of lesser risk were chosen, based on expected emissions, meteorological and topographical considerations; baseline data were gathered for a year prior to the operation of the first unit of the power plant. Subsequent data are planned to be collected for another 10 years. The program permits detection of short-term effects based on increases in health service requests, medium-term effects by repeat examination of panelists, and long-term effects based on pulmonary conditions among school children. The initial survey, before plant operations showed, among other things, lower flow rates for children in the area expected to have medium levels of exposure.