The World of Coal Ash, aka WOCA, is a scientific organization that exists to promote coal ash use. (!) It has a national conference and a library of information. Below the fold is some peer-reviewed research about health effects of coal ash from both WOCA and Pub Med.
Radon exhalation rate in coal and fly ash samples.
There is an organization called World of Coal Ash.
World of Coal Ash
It has a professional website, and (can you believe it?) an annual conference:
WOCA is a conference that combines the previous international symposia of the ACAA and CAER. It will focus on the science, applications and sustainability of coal ash worldwide.
It offers scientific papers about coal ash uses ON LINE, list of papers. The focus is on industrial use and the profitability of various uses, only a few papers address health concerns and almost always suggest that at occupational levels of exposure, there is "relatively little" risk.
But one study was interesting. It tested samples for heavy metals at 2 to 3 day intervals to see how much heavy metals leached into an environment. The leaching of arsenic from coal ash into the environment is often time-dependent (especially under acidic conditions). I wondered if this would suggest that collecting samples for Arsenic testing RIGHT AWAY would result in lower measures than samples later.
When plotted against time, the average slope of the curve indicates how solubility changes over time...if the slope is positive, solubility increases over time, negative decreases over time, and if the slope is zero solubility remains constant....the rate for arsenic is positive...indicating that the arsenic released from coal combustion by-Products may be initially low, but increase with time. (p. 6).
Reference: Relative mass release rates of trace elements from fly ash, by Ann G. Kim, George Kazonich/Federal Energy Technology Center, U. S. Dept. of Energy
It is also easy to get the most recent information by searching PubMed for articles on Coal Ash and health: use pub med.
A study shows (radioactive) radon can be much higher in the ash than the coal itself.
by Mahur AK and others (2008), An investigation of radon exhalation rate and estimation of radiation doses in coal and fly ash samples
Coal is a technologically important material used for power generation. Its cinder (fly ash) is used in the manufacturing of bricks, sheets, cement, land filling etc. Coal and its by-products often contain significant amounts of radionuclides, including uranium which is the ultimate source of the radioactive gas radon. Burning of coal and the subsequent atmospheric emission cause the redistribution of toxic radioactive trace elements in the environment. In the present study, radon exhalation rates in coal and fly ash samples from the thermal power plants at Kolaghat (W.B.) and Kasimpur (U.P.) have been measured using sealed Can technique having LR-115 type II detectors. The activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in the samples of Kolaghat power station are also measured. It is observed that the radon exhalation rate from fly ash samples from Kolaghat is higher than from coal samples and activity concentration of radionuclides in fly ash is enhanced after the combustion of coal. Fly ash samples from Kasimpur show no appreciable change in radon exhalation. Radiation doses from the fly ash samples have been estimated from radon exhalation rate and radionuclide concentrations.
This study was a test to see if it would or would not be safe to use coal ash under soil and/or mixed with soil specifically in terms of groundwater contamination... Although several factors matter (Ph liquid to solid ratio...). Bottom line, ground water is at risk.
d more
Batch leach tests (BLTs) and column leach tests (CLTs) were conducted on bottom ash (BA), lagoon ash (LA), soil (S), and bottom ash-soil (BA-S) and lagoon ash-soil (LA-S) mixtures to evaluate the environmental feasibility of using these as fill materials to raise the ground level at construction sites. For the BLTs, the leachability of the elements (i.e., Cr, Mn, Ni, and Zn) generally increased with decreasing pH from 6.3 to 3.0. In addition, the concentration of all the elements analyzed in the leachates increased with decreasing the liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratio. Freezing-thawing cycles had no significant effect on the leachability of the elements found in the BLTs. The initial concentrations of the leachates from the CLTs were higher than those of the leachates from the BLTs regardless of the materials tested due to the lower L/S ratio. The initial concentrations of As, Ni, Mn, Se, Cl-, and SO4(2-) in the leachates from the CLTs for the LA, BA, and LA-S and BA-S mixtures exceeded the drinking water standards (DWSs), which suggests that these materials may pose a risk to groundwater when these materials are used in areas where there is little dilution.
Reference: Jo HY, Min SH, Lee TY, Ahn HS, Lee SH, Hong JK (2008) Environmental feasibility of using coal ash as a fill material to raise the ground level.
There have been studies about how wild life is effects by coal ash.
Chakraborty R, Mukherjee A (Nov. 2008) Mutagenicity and genotoxicity of coal fly ash water leachate is a study on leaching of coal ash ponds.
Fly ash is a by-product of coal-fired electricity generation plants. The prevalent practice of disposal is as slurry of ash and water to storage or ash ponds located near power stations....Leachate prepared from the fly ash sample was analyzed for metal content, and tested for mutagenicity and genotoxicity.... The leachate was directly mutagenic and induced significant (P<0.05) concentration-dependent increases in DNA damage in whole blood cells, lymphocytes, and in Nicotiana plants. ...Our results indicate that leachate from fly ash dumpsites has the genotoxic potential and may lead to adverse effects on vegetation and on the health of exposed human populations. </p>
Coal combustion wastes are enriched in a number of potentially toxic compounds and may pose risks to biota exposed to the wastes. Slider turtles (Trachemys scripta) are common inhabitants of coal ash settling basins in South Carolina, USA, where they feed on contaminated prey items and accumulate high levels of potentially toxic compounds in their tissues. Furthermore, female sliders sometimes nest in contaminated spill piles and thus may expose embryos to contaminated soils. We examined two potential pathways by which female T. scripta may influence the survivorship and quality of their offspring in a contaminated habitat: (1) nesting in contaminated soil and (2) maternal transfer of pollutants. Eggs were collected from turtles captured in coal ash-polluted or unpolluted sites; individual clutches were incubated in both ash-contaminated and uncontaminated soil in outdoor, artificial nests. Incubation in contaminated soil was associated with reduced embryo survivorship. Adult females from the polluted site accumulated high levels of As, Cd, Cr, and Se in their tissues, yet Se was the only element transferred maternally to hatchlings at relatively high levels. Hatchlings from polluted-site females exhibited reduced O2 consumption rates compared to hatchlings from reference sites. Relatively high levels of Se transferred to hatchlings by females at the ash-polluted site might contribute to the observed differences in hatchling physiology.
Reference: Ward C, Hassan S, Mendonça M. (2008) Accumulation and Depuration of Trace Metals in Southern Toads, Bufo terrestris, Exposed to Coal Combustion Waste
NOTE: An earlier study by these authors in 2006 suggested that a species of toad did not show a significant cortisone effect due to long term ash exposure ( and has been quoted as such), but another more recent study by the authors shows that certain metals accumulate in the tissues of these frogs exposed to fly ash.
This last study documents that arsenic levels can be increased in the tissues of frogs living in coal ash by as much as 5000%.
Accumulation and depuration of metals by an organism are underrepresented in the literature. We collected southern toads (Bufo terrestris) from coal by-product (ash)-contaminated and uncontaminated sites to examine metal concentrations over time. Toads were placed in four exposure regimes, then sacrificed periodically over a 5-month period, and whole-body metal levels were measured. Toads exposed to ash accumulated significant concentrations of metals. Metal concentrations changed throughout the experiment, and profiles of accumulation and depuration differed depending on the metal and exposure regime. Ash-exposed toads exhibited elevated levels of 11 of 18 metals measured. Increases ranged from 47.5% for Pb to more than 5000% for As. Eight of 18 metals did not change in control toads, while 10 of 18 metals decreased in toads removed from ash, ranging from - 25% for Co to - 96% for Tl. Seven metals that decreased in toads removed from ash did not change in control toads.