When my friends across the border are astonished at the sheer stupidity that dominates American politics and national discourse – and exclaim “Is there something in the water over there?” they might be on to something. It turns out, there actually is something in the water over here affecting us. And in the air. It’s coal.
Physicians for Social Responsibility released a groundbreaking medical report, Coal’s Assault on Human Health (pdf), which takes a new look at the devastating impacts of coal on the national health.
Researchers estimate that every year another half million children are born in the U.S. with blood mercury levels high enough to reduce IQ scores and cause lifelong loss of intelligence.
Coal pollutants act on the nervous system to cause loss of intellectual capacity, primarily through mercury. This is costly to society. The report estimates that this costs the nation up to $43.8 billion annually in remedial education and lost lifetime income.
“The findings of this report are clear: while the U.S. relies heavily on coal for its energy needs, the consequences of that reliance for our health are grave,” says one of the principal report’s principal authors; Dr. Alan H. Lockwood, a professor of neurology at the University at Buffalo.
Not only does coal make our health a drain on our own nation’s economy, but it also isn’t helping us be as smart as we need to be to help the rest of the world take on the huge global challenges of even surviving the next few centuries; due to catastrophic climate change.
It also increases the incidence of major diseases. Coal contributes to four of the top five causes of mortality in the U.S. and our most costly chronic illnesses: our asthma, our diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimers, and stroke.
So when we Americans continue to vote for politicians who reduce our educational funding and vote for politicians who filibuster globally accepted climate change legislation – - and we even mount protests against getting non-profit health care that is in our own best interest – - don’t blame us.
It’s not us, it’s the coal we’ve been breathing. We are fossil fools.
Source: Physicians for Social Responsibility
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About Susan Kraemer
A recent report also found out that 100% of thousands of fish tested in over 200 rivers and streams in the United States, contained mercury from coal burning power plants. That’s not a typo. 100%
Great article! Thanks!
Wow, thats pretty scary dude!
Jess
‘The report estimates that this costs the nation up to $43.8 billion annually in remedial education and lost lifetime income.’ – Do you need to stick a dollar sign on it to know that it’s bad?
Your link at the bottom doesn’t work. Is this where you were trying to point: http://www.psr.org/news-events/press-releases/coal-pollution-damages-human-health.html
How does coal contribute to diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and stroke.
“Coal contributes to four of the top five causes of mortality in the U.S. and our most costly chronic illnesses: our asthma, our diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimers, and stroke.”
Thanks fox for keeping us infromed!!!? LOL!
thats why i stick with belvedere – much safer option
It contributes to those diseases through the mercury, it’s toxic to all of our tissues. It can lead to deterioration of brain cells, it can damage the heart, etc… Asthma is pretty clear as well. It also contributes to many other diseases, it just compounds the diseases we are already prone to because of our generally unhealthy lifestyles.
Thanks for posting this. I just wish that their report had been peer-reviewed, rather than just being released as a white paper.
Thanks, Larry for keeping me informed: I will fix that link!
It is not that far fetched that pollution of any kind could have an affect on intelligence. We know that it causes deformities in wild life and that smoking women have low birth weight babies. So why should it be surprising that coal could be bad for us?
B/S, as usual.
I was born and raised in a coal mining coal burning town in North East England and joined Mensa when I was 21, with an IQ of 163
The world is becoming overpopulated with statistically oriented experts in every sphere of life, looking for anything new that they can suggest which may bring Government funds to keep them going.
Wow…just simply wow, lol.
It also increases the incidence of major diseases.It’s not us, it’s the coal we’ve been breathing. We are fossil fools.
Hey, Right!! The report has estimated that this costs the nation up to $43.8 billion annually in remedial education and lost lifetime income.
The funny thing is that while coal lowers the IQ in newborns, so does MERCURY. I bet you cannot name the newest everyday household item that gets thrown in the trash, then taken to our land fields that contains MERCURY.
Well those wonderful energy efficient light bulbs actually have a hazards material warning on the box and read what the government has to say about them at their website.
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/lighting/cfls/downloads/CFL_Cleanup_and_Disposal.pdf