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The Silent Epidemic
The Silent Epidemic
Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health

Alan H. Lockwood, MD

The MIT Press

Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic
or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and
retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.

MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales
promotional use. For information, please email [email protected] or write to
Special Sales Department, The MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142.

This book was set in Sabon by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited. Printed and bound in
the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lockwood, Alan H.
The silent epidemic : coal and the hidden threat to health / Alan H. Lockwood.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-262-01789-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Coal–Environmental aspects. 2. Pollution–Health aspects. I. Title.
TD195.C58L63 2012
363.17′9–dc23
2011053211

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Owen, Clara, and Duncan
from whom we have borrowed this earth
Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments ix

1 Introduction 1
2 Coal 9
3 The Pollutants 17
4 From Mine to Ash 47
5 Mitigation of Pollutants from Burning Coal 67
6 Pathophysiology: How Pollution Damages Cells and Tissues 85
7 Basic Health Considerations 99
8 Diseases of the Respiratory System 111
9 Diseases of the Cardiovascular System 131
10 Diseases of the Nervous System 141
11 Health Effects on the Horizon 155
12 Coal, Global Warming, and Health 165
13 Energy and Health Care Economics 193
14 Policy Implications 207

Glossary 221
Index 225
Preface and Acknowledgments

The Silent Epidemic: Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health is the out-
growth of the white paper Coal’s Assault on Human Health published
by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) in the fall of 2009. At the
completion of that project, it was evident that there was much more to
be told. All of us who worked on this project were astounded by the
number and variety of diseases linked to the pollutants produced by
burning coal and the enormous number of people around the world
whose lives are diminished or curtailed by these pollutants. As a measure
of respect and admiration for this organization, the royalties from this
book will be donated to Physicians for Social Responsibility so that it
can continue its important work.
Although I was the principal author of Coal’s Assault on Human
Health, I had very able help from Molly Rauch, a gifted writer and editor
as well as Kristin Welker-Hood and Barbara Gottlieb. All three of these
dedicated professionals were on the staff of Physicians for Social Respon-
sibility. Sally Murray James was our able graphic artist. That project was
made possible by a generous grant from The Energy Foundation. I am
indebted to them for their early support that led to this project.
I am enormously grateful to the extraordinary efforts of so many
gifted scientists and physicians upon whose work I relied. To the
authors whose work I have not cited, I offer my apology and thanks.
Even book authors are limited. In many instances I relied on pertinent
reviews or seminal papers. These often become the source for much of
the information in the remainder of the paragraph. Almost every section
of every chapter could be supported by near-astronomical numbers of
peer-reviewed papers published in leading medical journals and other
reports.
x Preface and Acknowledgments

I wish to extend a special thank you to the American Academy of

Neurology. As the program director of the adult neurology residency
program at the University at Buffalo, I was eligible for training in the
principles of evidence-based medicine. I drew heavily on this valuable
experience, particularly in chapter 7, on basic health considerations, and
the ensuing chapters dealing with diseases of the respiratory, cardiovas-
cular, and nervous systems, and the chapter on emerging health consid-
erations. Amy Wallace and Gary Gronseth, MD were particularly helpful.
Physicians for Social Responsibility’s mission is “to protect human life
from the gravest threats to health and survival.” Burning coal poses that
threat. No one who has been downwind of burning coal would doubt
that inhaling this smoke is not good for you. John Evelyn knew that in
1661 when he wrote his treatise, “Fumifugium,” one of the earliest works
on air pollution. In this book I have kept much of the fundamental
organization and focus of Coal’s Assault on Human Health. Physicians
are accustomed and trained to think in terms of organ systems. This is
the rationale for the chapters devoted to diseases of the lungs, heart and
vascular system, the nervous system, and others. It is increasingly evident
that the coal-pollutant story is incomplete. Recent studies link diseases
such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer’s disease to the pollutants
produced by burning coal. It seems almost certain that as epidemiological
and other research progresses, even more disease states will be linked to
burning coal.
To the extent that this was possible I have relied on papers published
in the peer-reviewed scientific literature during the preparation of this
book. I have intentionally avoided the good work product of the many
nonprofits whose efforts have made this earth a healthier place. This was
not because of a lack of respect for their efforts, but rather to avoid
perceptions of bias. In many instances I have relied on reports prepared
by governmental agencies. Frequently they are the only source of impor-
tant data. Many of these reports are peer-reviewed.
Occasionally there is reluctance to quote items of scholarship that are
not peer-reviewed. This book has been subjected to more reviews by my
colleagues than almost anything else I have written. The process began
with an informal contact with Clay Morgan, the Senior Acquisition
Editor for Environmental Sciences at the MIT Press. He provided early
encouragement and belief in the value of the book. His cogent advice
 Preface and Acknowledgments xi

helped steer me through the remaining steps leading to eventual publica-

tion. The first of these was a detailed table of contents, description of
the target audience, a curriculum vitae, and other information related to
the proposed book. The PSR report was acceptable in lieu of sample
chapters. This information was submitted to the first review by peers.
My responses to the reviews and the other items described above were
then submitted to a publication committee. Only then was I offered a
contract. A second peer review was performed after the book draft was
finished. The revision took these reviews into account along with final
editing done by Dana Andrus at the MIT Press. The entire process, start
to finish, took slightly more than a year and a half.
In writing this book, I was charged with the task of making it acces-
sible to as many readers as possible, ranging from physicians and scien-
tists, to politicians, policy makers, and last, but clearly not least, to those
who care about health and the environment. I have avoided most of the
acronyms that make so many publications confusing to too many readers.
Some of my readers will, rightfully, demand indications of the statistical
validity of results I present.
For those who are not accustomed to statistical inferences and their
meaning, I have tried to deal with the presentation of results to the best
of my ability. I have placed some of the statistical data, such as confidence
intervals, in parentheses, realizing that this interrupts the flow of the
text for some but are welcome data for others. Hopefully the glossary
and some of the explanations provided in chapter 7 will be helpful
to readers.
I am especially grateful to my wife, Anne Lockwood, for her multiple
readings and editorial suggestions and to Michael Cohen and Patricia
Pliner who gave generously of their time to critique an early draft of the
book. They were extremely helpful in the task of helping me to see the
forest amid the trees. However, the responsibility for the final content is
squarely on my shoulders.
Finally, the task of writing a book is formidable. I am extraordinarily
fortunate to have the love and support of my wife Anne. Without her,
this book would not exist.

Alan H. Lockwood
Buffalo, NY
1
Introduction

Linking Coal and Health

We are in the midst of a silent epidemic caused by the exposure to coal-

derived pollutants. I refer to this as a silent epidemic because too few of
us are aware of the relationship between coal and health, the focus of
this book. Each year this epidemic claims the lives of tens of thousands
of Americans and causes hundreds of thousands of serious and minor
illnesses. You will not find “exposure to coal-derived pollution” on a
single death certificate. The same is true for smoking cigarettes, yet the
links to both are there, but much less visible and well known for coal.
Instead of blaming coal, vital statistics chronicle deaths due to asthma,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung and other cancers, heart
attacks and other cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, sudden cardiac
death due to heart rhythm disturbances, and an ever-lengthening list of
other major causes of death and disease. The list will grow as the effects
of global warming become more pronounced.
In 1971 President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act,
marking the beginning of what is now referred to as the “War on Cancer”
the second ranked cause of death among Americans in 2008. We have
not followed suit with regard to pollution. Far from it, in recent years it
is the other way around. Those who seek to preserve and extend the
health benefits that follow the control of pollution are under assault by
those who deny the validity of the peer-reviewed, science-based evidence
that pollution damages health. They have focused their attacks on the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the branch of the government
specifically charged with protecting human health and the environment.
This antagonism has become a litmus test for conservative Republicans
2 Chapter 1

who are egged on by members of the Tea Party. Ironically the EPA was
founded and the critical Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 were
adopted during Republican administrations.
The evidence linking coal and disease is strong and getting stronger
each year. Recent peer-reviewed articles in major medical journals provide
surprising estimates of the morbidity and mortality associated with
burning coal. European data reported in the prestigious medical journal,
The Lancet, show that 24.5 deaths are expected for each TerraWatthour
(TWh = 1012 Watthours) of electricity generated (95% CI = 6.1–98), in
addition to 225 serious illnesses (95% CI = 56.2–899), and 13,288 minor
illnesses (95% CI = 3,322–53,150) [1]. Burning lignite, a lower rank or
type of coal that yields more pollutants than bituminous coal, raises these
numbers to 32.6 deaths (95% CI = 8.2–130), 298 serious illnesses (95%
CI = 74.6–1,193), and 17,676 minor illnesses (95% CI = 4,419–70,704)
for each TWh. To give these data perspective, consider the fact that nearly
half of the electricity generated in the United States in 2007 came from
coal-fired power plants. If these European estimates are applied to the
United States, as many as 50,000 deaths per year may be attributable to
burning coal. Although differences in the population density between
Europe and the United States are substantial, and there are large bound-
aries on the 95% confidence limits associated with these data, it is clear
that burning coal has major adverse health effects that must not be
ignored.
As a scientist, I have a certain disdain for arguments that begin with
the phrase, “it is intuitively obvious that . . .” However, for coal, a certain
amount of intuition is warranted. Burning coal imparts a terrible smell
to the air. It can’t be good for you. Almost anyone who has been down-
wind of burning coal knows this. Presumably, this is what led John
Evelyn to warn his “Sacred Majestie” the king, of the “hazzard to Your
Health” and that “kindled this indignation of [his] against it” [2]. This
1661 treatise may be the earliest reference to the adverse health effects
associated with burning coal.
Systematic studies of the relationship between burning coal, industrial
activity and the health effects of hazardous air pollutants date clearly to
1872 with the publication of Air and Rain: The Beginning of Chemical
Climatology by Robert Angus Smith (cited by [3]). Since then there have
been a number of sentinel events that link episodes of severe air pollution
 Introduction 3

to a variety of illnesses [3]. In October 1948, almost half of the 14,000

residents of Donora, Pennsylvania, were sickened when atmospheric
conditions trapped toxic emissions from a nearby smelter: 20 died and
400 required hospitalizations. In 1952, the infamous killer fog in London
sent death rates and hospital admissions soaring. Overall hospital admis-
sions increased by 43%. Those due to respiratory diseases rose by 163%.
Almost 12,000 deaths were attributed to this environmental disaster
caused, in part, by burning coal. The link between burning coal and
adverse health was made strikingly clear in Dublin, Ireland, in the 1990s
[4]. Because of increases in the cost of fuel oil in the 1980s, Dubliners
switched from oil to bituminous coal to heat their homes and provide
hot water. Subsequent increases in air pollution were associated with an
increase in in-hospital deaths due to respiratory diseases. This led the
Irish government to ban the “marketing, sale, and distribution of bitu-
minous coal” on September 1, 1990. In the year that followed, black
smoke concentrations declined by 70%, respiratory deaths fell by 15.5%,
and cardiovascular deaths fell by 10.3% [4]. Approximately 450 lives
were saved that year by this measure and hundreds of acute illnesses
were prevented. Although burning coal was not the only cause of these
epidemics, it was clearly a major factor in the production of the complex
mixture of airborne pollutants that had diverse adverse effects on human
health.
Mining, transporting, burning, and disposing of the products of the
combustion of coal, all have major impacts on our health. With the
passage of time, more and more adverse health effects have been attrib-
uted to our reliance on coal. Based on recent trends, it is likely that as
time passes more and more adverse health effects will be shown to be
the result of coal-derived pollutants.
Coal fueled the industrial revolution and has become an essential
source of energy in virtually every country. Coal is the principal source
of energy we use in the United States to generate electricity. About 45%
of the energy used to generate electricity in the United States comes from
burning coal, as shown in figure 1.1. In 2009 Americans paid an average
of 9.82 cents per kWh to purchase 3,597 TWh of electricity [5]. These
facts make coal a major component of the economy and form the nidus
around which political, economic, health, and environmental consider-
ations coalesce.
4 Chapter 1

Petroleum, 1%

Biomass, 2% Wind, photovoltalic, geothermal, 2%

Hydroelectric, 6%

Nuclear, 20% Coal, 45%

Natural gas, 24%

Figure 1.1
Sources of energy used for generation of electricity in 2010. Source US Energy
Information Administration [9].

At the end of 2009, worldwide demonstrated coal reserves were

approximately 908 billion tons [6]. Of that amount 28.9% are in the
United States, 19% are in the Russian Federation, and 13.9% are in
China. In 2006, the US electric power industry burned 1.026 billion tons
of coal. Nearly 10% of this total was burned in Texas, with Missouri,
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania following closely behind (see
figure 1.2). Increases in the cost of energy reinforce the 2006 Department
of Energy estimate that 153 additional coal-fired power plants will be
built by 2025. Powerful, well-funded lobbyists support plans to build
approximately 100 of these units adding to the approximately 600 large
coal-burning power plants already in existence.
Many of the pollutants produced by burning coal were listed by the US
Environmental Protection Agency in its 1998 Report to Congress [7]. This
report identified as many as 67 different hazardous air pollutants. This list
did not include three pollutants, particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen
 Introduction 5

Millions of tons
100 50

90 40

80 30

70 20

60 10

Figure 1.2
Coal consumption by coal-fired power plants, state by state. Texas led the nation
with other states in the Ohio Valley that are close to coal fields and water trans-
portation, following closely behind. Source: US Energy Information Association,
2009 data [10].

and sulfur, that along with carbon monoxide, lead, and ozone are defined
by the EPA as criteria pollutants because of their threats to human health
and the environment. The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to establish
National Ambient Air Quality Standards for these six criteria pollutants
because of their impacts on health and the environment and empowers the
Agency to make rules that are necessary to meet these standards. A discus-
sion of these threats to health posed by coal forms the basis for this book.

Clean Coal

Because of the importance of energy in our economy and the large role
that coal plays in the production of energy, politics, huge sums of money,
information, and disinformation abound. “Clean coal” is at the center
of many of these discussions. In its original usage, this term was used to
refer to technologies that were designed to reduce emission of pollutants
6 Chapter 1

associated with burning coal, such as washing coal at the mine. This step
removes some of the sulfur and other contaminants, including rocks and
soil. This makes coal cleaner and cheaper to transport. More recently the
definition of clean coal has been expanded to include carbon capture
and storage.
The clean coal initiative gained status toward the 1980s and in early
1990s through the US Department of Energy’s Clean Coal Technology
and The Clean Coal Power Initiative. Information about these programs
is available on line at http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersys-
tems/cleancoal. Initially the initiative focused on reducing emissions of
sulfur and nitrogen dioxides and their contribution to acid rain because
of the effects they had on forests and waterways in the United States.
The program has evolved with time and the realization that mercury and
fine particles had serious adverse health effects and that carbon dioxide
emissions were causing global warming.
The Department of Energy website touts the success of the program,
since “more than 20 of the technologies tested in the original program
achieved commercial success.” However, success was not uniform. Among
the eight first-round projects funded in 2002, only three were completed.
The others were withdrawn or discontinued. Among the four second-
round projects, three are active and one has been withdrawn.
Examples of projects include retrofitting a Wisconsin plant with the
TOXECONTM system to control mercury, particulate, and oxides of
sulfur and nitrogen; installing a waste-heat drier to remove moisture
from lignite, a low-ranked coal, at a North Dakota plant to improve
combustion efficiency; and employing advanced computational strategies
to improve peak performance, remove soot, and control emissions at a
Boston, Massachusetts, utility.
Clean coal got a shot in the arm from President Barak Obama whose
February 3, 2010, memorandum to 14 federal agencies included the fol-
lowing statement: “Rapid commercial development and deployment of
clean coal technologies, particularly carbon capture and storage (CCS),
will help position the United States as a leader in the global clean energy
race.” There is an extensive discussion of CCS in chapter 5
In his book, Big Coal, Jeff Goodell paints a picture of the influence
of coal on the political system in the United States, primarily through
contributions to Republicans [8]. He draws on reports by the Center for
 Introduction 7

Responsive Politics when he concludes that coal-based companies spend

large amounts on political contributions. For example, he cites data for
Peabody Energy, a mining company that spends 0.65% of its profits on
political contributions, a fraction greater than spent on the defense con-
tractor Martin Marietta, Exxon/Mobil, Pfizer, and General Motors.
Republicans received about ten times more money than Democrats when
Peabody Energy opened its wallet. Goodell describes the Southern
Company, a utility, as a “ruthless capitalist with a happy face” as he
details contributions to the arts, education, and other worthy causes in
an effort to, as he wrote, “disarm critics.”
Coal companies have funded other campaigns designed to build
support for their industry and deflect challenges to the pollution from
coal. Television commercials and billboards are designed specifically for
this purpose, some of which can be seen on YouTube. Spoofs are present
too. One of these videos is titled “Get Clean Coal Clean” in which a
housewife sprays a gray mist throughout her home while the narrator
tells us that “clean coal harnesses the awesome power of the word clean.”
Make no mistake. Billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives
each year depend on the outcome of clean coal campaigns.

Advice to Readers

Reports that describe relationships between health and a given pollutant

abound. However, it is difficult, and in some cases impossible, to link a
specific source of a pollutant, notably burning coal, to a health effect in
question. When I can, I will attempt to define the proportion of the pol-
lutant that is attributable to coal. The linkage issue is a particular issue
with regard to oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, and particulates. There are
many important sources of these pollutants in addition to burning coal.
Therefore in this book I draw on the literature that goes beyond that in
which authors limit to coal as the sole source of the pollutant in question.
This is rarely possible. Linkage issues are less of a problem for mercury.
Burning coal is clearly the most important anthropogenic source for this
pollutant.
I recognize that not all chapters will be of interest or pertinent to the
needs of all readers. Therefore I sought to make each chapter capable of
standing on its own. This explains some of the redundancies that will be
8 Chapter 1

evident to those who read the entire book. Hopefully this will not be too
irritating to these intrepid souls.
In this book I have employed an organ-systems-based approach to
describing the health effects of burning coal rather than a pollutant-based
review. This is the format my colleagues and I adopted in Coal’s Assault
on Human Health, available online at http://www.psr.org/coalreport. To
minimize bias, whenever possible, I have cited contemporary peer-
reviewed medical literature and reports published by governmental agen-
cies such as the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department
of Energy. I hope that this book will provide physicians, other health
care providers, policy makers, and concerned citizens with the informa-
tion they need to make informed choices that affect our health and the
future of burning coal.

References

1. Markandaya A, Wilkinson P. Energy and health 2: electricity generation.

Lancet 2007;370:979–90.
2. Fumifugium EJ. The Inconvenience of the Aer And Smoak of London. Together
with some Remedies Humbly Proposed by J.E. Esq; To His Sacred Majestie and
to the Parliament now Assembled. London: Published by His Majesties Command,
1661.
3. Simkhovich BZ, Kleinman MT, Kloner RA. Air pollution and cardiovascular
injury epidemiology, toxicology, and mechanisms. J Am Coll Cardiol 2008;
52(9):719–26.
4. Clancy L, Goodman P, Sinclair H, Dockery DW. Effect of air-pollution control
on death rates in Dublin, Ireland: an intervention study. Lancet 2002;360(9341):
1210–4.
5. Edison Electric Institute. www.eei.org. Accessed 2008 Sep 1.
6. BP Statistical Review of World Energy. London: British Petroleum, 2010.
7. Study of Hazardous Air Pollutant Emissions from Electric Utility Steam Gen-
erating Units—Final Report to Congress EPA publication 453/R-98–004a. Wash-
ington DC: EPA, 1998.
8. Goodell J. Big Coal: The Dirty Secret behind America’s Energy Future. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 2006.
9. US Energy Information Administration. Electricity in the United States. Wash-
ington DC: Government Printing Office, 2010.
10. US Energy Information Administration. US Coal Consumption. Washington
DC: Government Printing Office, 2011.
2
Coal

They digge out of the mountaynes a certayne kinde of blacke stone whiche burne
in the fyre like coles.
—Sebastian Münster, 1553 [1]

This quotation is an incomplete but good start at describing the essential

features of coal. Coal is not a single, well-defined entity. Coals form a
family of extraordinarily complex minerals composed primarily of
carbon, but also containing a long list of elements and compounds. Thus
there are many different forms of coal whose compositions reflect the
conditions under which they were formed. Coals are typically assigned
to one of four different ranks, as described in table 2.1.
The different ranks of coal were formed during many geological eras.
The largest amount of coal began its journey to the present during the
Carboniferous Period, 360 to 290 million years ago. Other coals date to
the Permian and Secondary Periods of the Cenozoic Era, 250 to 65 million
years ago, as well as the more recent Tertiary Period of the Cenozoic Era,
which began about 65 million years ago. These were times when lush
forests covered large portions of the existing land masses. When trees fell,
they were concentrated in basins where they were covered by water and
silt. This kept oxygen from reaching the dead vegetation and prevented
the oxidation of the cellulose in the plant matter. This is why there are
large amounts of carbon in all of the ranks of coal and why it is a valu-
able fossil fuel. The threats to health and the environment are due to the
release of carbon dioxide and other molecules and elements in the final
stages of the life cycle of coal when it is mined, transported, and burned.
Since the coal-forming aggregations of dead vegetation were disbursed
widely, there were many different physical and chemical conditions in
10 Chapter 2

Table 2.1
Ranks of coal

Average CO2 Heat

emission factor, Carbon,a moisture,b production,
lb/million Btu volatile matter,b and Btu/lb (MJ/kg)
Rank (kg/GJ) [13] ashb contents [14]

Anthracite 227.4 86% or more, 4%, 15,000

(98) 7%, 10% (35)
Bituminous 205.3 45–86%, 5%, 38%, 10,500–14,000
(88.5) 9% (24–33)
Subbituminous 211.9 35–45%, 25%, 35%, 8,200–11,200
(91.3) 7% (19–26)
Lignite 216.3 25–35%, 38%, 27%, 7,000
(93.2) 6% (17)

a: Energy Kids: Nonrenewable Coal, US Energy Information Administration.

Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=coal_home.
b: The Science and Technology of Coal, G. E. Dolbear and Associates, Diamond
Bar, CA. Available at http://www.coalscience.com.

these deposits. This created large variations in the composition of the

coals as they formed. Some were close to volcanoes, a natural source of
mercury. Thus mercury and other elements that are the result of vulca-
nism were added to the organic debris that was destined to become coal.
The chemicals in the water that covered these early sites played a critical
role in determining final composition of the coal [2]. Seawater was typi-
cally rich in sulfur during the coal-forming eras. When it covered these
organic deposits, various chemical reactions led to the trapping of sulfur.
This accounts for the so-called super-high organic sulfur coal from
Guiding, Guizhou, China. The sulfur content of the coal from this deposit
may reach 10.5% by weight. At the other end of the sulfur spectrum,
the low-sulfur coal from the Powder River Basin in the United States
contains less than 1% sulfur by weight. It was covered by freshwater
that was low in sulfur as opposed to seawater.
When it is burned, the sulfur in the coal combines with oxygen to
form oxides of sulfur, collectively referred to as SOx, where x refers
to the number of atoms of oxygen that have combined with the sulfur.
Since SOx have critical health and environmental effects, the sulfur
content of coal is one of the factors that determines its quality. Therefore
coals are graded and marketed according to their sulfur content [3].
 Coal 11

Low-sulfur coal contains less than 0.6 pounds of sulfur per million
British thermal units (Btu) of heat content, a measure of the amount of
heat produced per unit weight of coal when it is burned. Medium-sulfur
coal contains between 0.61 and 1.67 pounds of sulfur per million Btu,
and high-sulfur coal contains more than 1.67 pounds of sulfur per
million Btu.
As time passed, many layers of sediments were deposited over these
nascent coal beds. Different combinations of time, heat, and pressure
contributed to the characteristics of the different ranks of coal. There are
four principal types, or ranks, of coal. In order of increasing carbon
content, these are lignite, subbituminous, bituminous, and anthracite
coal. Lignite, sometimes called “brown coal,” is the youngest, most
recently formed, and lowest quality or rank of coal, where quality is
determined by the amount of heat produced when it is burned. Like
subbituminous and bituminous coal, lignite is a sedimentary rock. As
shown in table 2.1, lignite, like other ranks of coal, contains a substantial
amount of moisture and volatile matter. As the quality of the coal
increases, the moisture content decreases. Coals also contain a volatile
component, made up of various hydrocarbons, including methane. This
volatile fraction is highest in subbituminous and bituminous coals. It is
this volatile component of coal that forms soot or black carbon when
low- and mid-ranked coals are burned under suboptimal conditions. Soot
formation is minimized in modern boilers where conditions can be opti-
mized to ensure complete combustion. Anthracite coal, the rarest of the
ranks of coal, has the highest carbon content, and the smallest amount
of moisture and volatile matter. It is a metamorphic rock, and was
formed from a lower rank of coal as additional heat and pressure drove
water and organic compounds from the anthracite precursor. In the
United States most anthracite deposits are found in what is now north-
eastern Pennsylvania where folding of the earth’s crust formed the Appa-
lachian Mountains. Anthracite coal yields the most ash, on a weight
basis. This is due to its low moisture and volatile matter content, leaving
little room for anything else other than ash and carbon.
There are other terms that indicate how coals are used. For example,
steam coal refers to coal that is used to produce steam—most of which
is used to generate electricity. Typically this is bituminous coal. Other
coals that are rich in volatile components, as shown in table 2.1, are used
12 Chapter 2

to produce coke. Most coke is produced by heating bituminous coal that

has a low-ash and low-sulfur content. This removes the volatile compo-
nents by distillation and leaves behind a porous, high-carbon coke. Coke
is used in smelters to remove the oxygen chemically bonded to iron in
iron ores in order to make iron and steel.
Perhaps the most telling information concerning the complexity of
coals came from rigorous analyses of the emissions created when coal is
burned [4]. A 1998 EPA report, which was mandated by the Clean Air
Act, identified 67 hazardous air pollutants in the emissions from utilities
in operation during the early 1990s. These emissions included hydroflu-
oric acid, mercury, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, lead, man-
ganese, mercury, nickel, uranium, and thorium, as shown in table 3.2.
Because of the nature of the Clean Air Act, pollutants, such as oxides of
nitrogen and sulfur as well as particulate matter, were excluded from this
survey.
World coal reserves are enormous. Proven reserves total just over 908
billion tons [5]. These reserves are those that can be mined now and in
the future, given present-day technology and expected economic condi-
tions. Just over 28% of proven reserves are in the United States, 13.5%
are in China, and just over 18.5% are in the Russian Federation [6].
Estimates of additional deposits in the United States, made using conser-
vative, nonspeculative assumptions, could raise US deposits by as much
as 1,200,000 million tons. Similar estimates are not available for China;
however, estimates of the additional deposits of bituminous coal in the
Russian Federation exceed 200,000 million tons.
These estimates may be overly optimistic. In 2002 Ruppert and col-
leagues evaluated the US Geological Survey’s assessment of US coal
resources [7]. They concluded that the coal that can actually be recov-
ered, given coal quality considerations, largely related to sulfur content,
land use, other regulations, and technological considerations, place
doubt on the survey’s conclusion. For example, they conclude that only
one-tenth of the coal reserves in the Illinois Basin is economically recov-
erable. Glustrom, in a posting on the website of Clean Energy Action,
an advocacy organization whose mission is to promote clean energy and
alternatives to fossil fuels, concludes that economically recoverable coal
reserves in the United States may only be sufficient to last twenty to
thirty years [8].
 Coal 13

Despite these predictions, the growth of coal as an energy source

exceeds all others: at current rates of use, the World Energy Council
concluded in their 2010 report that coal supplies should last at least 150
years [6]. By any measure, it seems likely that coal is certain to be with
us for a very long time. As coal prices rise, more and more coal will be
economically recoverable. Goodell and others refer to the United States
as the “Saudi Arabia of Coal” [9].
According to the US Energy Information Administration, 1,406 mines
produced just over 1 billion tons of coal in 22 states in 2009 [10]. This
represented an 8.3% reduction in the amount mined, compared to 2008.
Almost 50% of all coal mined in the United States comes from just 10
deposits [10]. About one-third of this coal was mined in the Appalachian
region. The three leading coal states are Kentucky, West Virginia, and
Pennsylvania.
Despite this decline in coal production, mirrored by similar worldwide
reductions associated with the recession, the International Energy Orga-
nization projects a 56% increase (from 132 quadrillion Btu to 206
quadrillion Btu) in coal consumption in the interval between 2007 and
2035 [11]. Ninety-five percent of this increase is expected to occur in
countries that are not a part of the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), mainly China and India.
Annual energy use rates are expected to increase by 5% per year in India
and 5.8% in China. By contrast, coal consumption in OECD countries
is expected to decrease by about 10% in the interval between 2007 and
2025 and remain relatively unchanged for the ensuing decade. This pro-
jection is made despite an anticipated growth in coal use in the United
States of about 11%, from 22.7 to 25.1 quadrillion Btu. Decreases in
coal use are the result of several factors including an increase in the use
of natural gas and current economic conditions.
Even though coal deposits are found in many locations throughout
the world, the international coal trade is growing in importance. Most
of the importation of coal occurs in Asia. This region already accounts
for almost 60% of all coal imports (12.6 quadrillion Btu) and is expected
to increase to 70% by 2035 [11]. The majority of this growth is expected
to occur during the next decade and then taper off as China expands its
capacity to move its own coal from coal-rich regions to where it is used.
This growth and changes in Chinese coal use are due to several factors,
14 Chapter 2

including the expanding economy, differences in the cost of transporting

coal from inland mines to coastal manufacturing sites, and the fact that
much of China’s coal contains large amounts of sulfur, compared to
the low-sulfur coal produced in parts of the United States, such as the
Powder River Basin. In 2008 the major suppliers of coal targeted for
the production of electricity were Indonesia, Australia, South America
(mainly Colombia), and southern Africa (mainly South Africa) [11].
The large number of coal states and the growing importance of the
exportation of coal accounts, in part, for the influence of coal lobbies
in Washington, DC. According to data released by the Federal Election
Commission on October 25, 2010, three of the top five political action
committees (PACs) in the energy and natural resources sector have coal-
based interests. These three PACs reported expenditures of $492,000,
60% of which went to Republican candidates [12]. As the result of the
US Supreme Court Decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Com-
mission granting First Amendment rights to corporations, the total
amount of coal money spent on lobbying can no longer be determined
with certainty. It is likely to be much more than the amount reported
by PACs.

References

1. Münster S. A treatyse of the newe India, with other new found landes and
ilandes . . . (trans Eden R). London, 1553.
2. Chou C-L. Geologic factors affecting the abundance, distribution, and specia-
tion of sulfur in coals. In: Yang Q, ed. Proceedings of the 30th International
Geological Congress. Zeist, Netherlands: VSP BV, 1997.
3. US Energy Information Administration. US Coal Reserves: An Update by Heat
and Sulfur Content. Washington DC: US Department of Energy, 1993.
4. Study of Hazardous Air Pollutant Emissions from Electric Utility Steam
Generating Units—Final Report to Congress. EPA publication 453/R-98–004a.
Washington DC: EPA, 1998.
5. BP Statistical Review of World Energy. London: British Petroleum, 2010.
6. World Energy Council. Survey of Energy Resources 2007. Available at http://
www worldenergy.org. Accessed 2010.
7. Office of Management and Budget OoIaRA. Informing Regulatory Decisions:
2003 Report to Congress on the Costs and Benefits of Federal Regulations and
Unfunded Mandates on State, Local, and Tribal Entities. Washington DC: Gov-
ernment Printing Office, 2003.
 Coal 15

8. Council of Economic Advisors EOotP. The Economic Case for Health Care
Reform. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 2009.
9. Goodell J. Big Coal: The Dirty Secret behind America’s Energy Future. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 2006.
10. US Energy Information Administration. Annual Coal Report 2009. Wash-
ington DC: Government Printing Office, 2010.
11. US Energy Information Administration. International Energy Outlook.
Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 2010.
12. PAC Contributions to Federal Candidates: Energy and Natural Resources
Sector. Center for Responsive Politics. Available at opensecrets.org. Accessed
2010.
13. Hong BD, Slatick ER. Carbon Dioxide Emission Factors for Coal. Washing-
ton DC: US Energy Information Administration, 1994DOE/EIA-0121(94/Q1).
14. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Available at http://www Britannica.com.
Accessed 2010.
3
The Pollutants

Overview of Exposure to Hazardous Air Pollutants

Although carbon is the principal element found in coal, coal is actually

a complex mixture of numerous elements and compounds. Many of these
are released into the atmosphere as hazardous air pollutants when coal
is burned and many of them are harmful to health. Studies done by the
EPA have identified some 67 hazardous pollutants that are discharged
into the air by coal-fired utilities [1].
An individual or a population must be exposed to a pollutant before
it can exert its effect. Although this is axiomatic, numerous critical
factors play complex roles between the time that a pollutant is released
into the environment and the time that an exposure occurs. In the case
of airborne pollutants, the concentration in air, usually expressed in
terms of mass per unit volume, such as μg/m3 (microgram per cubic
meter), is perhaps the most important of these. Concentration is, in turn,
affected by other factors, such as the rate of emission of the pollutant,
and local weather and wind conditions. Daily and seasonal fluctuations
in these variables cause additional complexity. Some of the emission rate
variability depends on the demand for electricity. During hot weather,
when air-conditioning use peaks, it is common to find concomitant peaks
in electricity usage. To meet power demands, additional generating facili-
ties with less efficient pollution control technologies may be brought on
line to meet demand.
Once released, some pollutants stay in the atmosphere longer than
others. For example, very small particles, those with a diameter of 2.5
μm (microns) or less, have long atmospheric lifetimes and may therefore
travel substantial distances from the site of emission to the site of
18 Chapter 3

exposure. This widespread dispersion creates a large area wherein an

exposure may occur. Other pollutants, such as mercury, are deposited
closer to the site of emission, causing local hot spots.
Macro- and micro-environmental factors affect exposures. Some of
these include whether an individual is outdoors where pollution levels
are generally highest, or indoors, where levels are typically lower. Activity
levels are also important. With high levels of activity, the amount of
air breathed per unit time increases, leading to corresponding increases
in exposure to airborne pollutants. Children breathe more air per unit
body weight than adults and they are usually more active than adults.
These factors make them more susceptible to the adverse effects of
air pollution.
The quality of the air at a given location is an important determinant
of health. It is the result of the complex interaction of all of the factors
mentioned above. In order to aid individuals and communities in their
efforts to deal with the effects of air pollution, cooperative efforts between
the EPA, state, and local agencies have established Enviroflash, an online
resource that provides health-oriented up-to-date air quality information.
This information is available at http://www.enviroflash.info. During tem-
perature peaks that occur during the summer, air pollution advisories
that involve major metropolitan areas in the United States can be found
on this website. During the air pollution advisory, sensitive populations
are urged to minimize physical activity and to remain indoors.

Hazardous Air Pollutants and the Clean Air Act

The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 marked the beginning of federal
involvement in issues relevant to air pollution [2]. The ensuing report
drew attention to the fact that air pollution was potentially injurious to
health. It left the control of pollutants up to the states, but authorized
the federal government to conduct additional research and disseminate
information. The Air Quality Act of 1967 expanded federal studies of
air pollution to include emission inventories, monitoring and control
technologies.
The focus changed from research to action as a result of the data
yielded by these two acts and the increasing realization that air pollution
posed serious threats to health and the environment [2]. This led to the
 The Pollutants 19

adoption of the National Environmental Policy Act, the legislation that

created the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and significant
amendments to the Clean Air Act that was originally passed in 1963.
This EPA was created on May 2, 1971, with a mission to “ . . . protect
human health and to safeguard the natural environment—air, water and
land—upon which life depends.” Currently there are four major regula-
tory provisions of the Act: National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(frequently abbreviated as NAAQS, pronounced nacks), State Implemen-
tation Plans, New Source Performance Standards, and National Emission
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants. The EPA is also the home of
one of the most bewildering arrays of terms, abbreviations and acro-
nyms. For help, see the glossary at the end of this book and the EPA
Terminology Services website, available at http://iaspub.epa.gov/sor_
internet/registry/termreg/home/overview/home. Ambient air quality stan-
dards define a primary standard that is designed to preserve health, and
a secondary standard that is designed to preserve the environment for
each of six pollutants that were determined to pose the greatest threats
to health. These six pollutants are known as criteria pollutants because
of the primary and secondary standards or criteria associated with each.
These pollutants are carbon monoxide, lead, particulate matter (now
subdivided by particle size), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.
Current standards are shown in table 3.1. Other hazardous air pollutants
are included in table 3.2 and discussed below.
The Clean Air Act has been amended two more times. The 1977
amendments were designed to identify regions of the country where air
quality was deteriorating or where air quality standards had not been
realized. These are referred to as sites of nonattainment. The 1990
amendments to the Act increased the authority of the EPA to deal effec-
tively with air pollution, especially oxides of sulfur and oxides of nitro-
gen, the pollutants that cause acid rain (in many publications these oxides
are commonly referred to as SOx and NOx).
In 1991, as a part of its congressional charge, the EPA began to
perform a systematic evaluation of the risks associated with burning coal
to produce electricity [1]. The charge included this specific language:
“. . . perform a study of the hazards of public health reasonably antici-
pated to occur as a result of emissions by electric utility steam generating
units of . . . [hazardous air pollutants]. . . .”
Table 3.1
National ambient air quality standards
20

Primary standards Secondary standards

Pollutant Level Averaging time Level Averaging time

3 a
Carbon 9 ppm (10 mg/m ) 8 hour None
Chapter 3

monoxide 35 ppm 1 houra

(40 mg/m3)
Lead 0.15 μg/m3 Rolling 3-month average Same as primary
1.5 μg/m3 Quarterly average
Nitrogen dioxide 53 ppb Annual arithmetic average Same as primary
100 ppb 1 hour None
Particulate, PM10 150 μg/m3 24 hourb Same as primary
3
Particulate, 15 μg/m Annual arithmetic average Same as primary
PM2.5 35 μg/m3 24 hour Same as primary
Ozone 0.075 ppm; 8 hour Same as primary
2008 standard
0.12 ppm 1 hour Same as primary
Sulfur dioxide 0.03 ppm Annual arithmetic average 0.5 ppm 3 hour
0.14 ppm 24 houra
75 ppb 1 hourc None

Note: ppm and ppb = parts per million and billion, respectively. Per the EPA NAAQS website, primary standards set limits to protect
public health, including the health of “sensitive” populations such as asthmatics, children, and the elderly. Secondary standards set
limits to protect public welfare, including protection against decreased visibility, damage to animals, crops, vegetation, and buildings.
a. Not to be exceeded more than once per year.
b. Not to be exceeded more than once per year on average over 3 years.
c. The final rule was signed on June 2, 2010. To attain this standard, the 3-year average of the 99th percentile of the daily maximum
1-hour average at each monitor within an area must not exceed 75 ppb.
Table 3.2
Emissions of priority hazardous air pollutants [1]

1994 Emissions Cancer

HAP (tons per year) riskc Toxicityb

Arsenic (As) 56 3 × 10-6 Long-term ingestion of small amounts may affect skin (hyperpigmentation, corns,
and warts), damage peripheral nerves (painful sensation of “pins and needles”),
and increase risk of cancer of urinary bladder and lung.
Beryllium (Be) 7.9 3 × 10-7 In comparison with other elements (lead, chromium) Be exposure is insignificant.
Most ingested Be is eliminated in the feces. Inhaled Be is more persistent.
Inhalation of Be compounds (greater than 1 mg [milligram] per cubic meter) may
cause acute or chronic lung disease. The average Be concentration in US urban air
is 0.2 ng per cubic meter, 1 ng = 1 billionth of a gram.
Cadmium 3.2 2 × 10-7 Cd accumulates in shellfish (observe fishing advisories), organ meats, lettuce,
(Cd) spinach, potatoes, grains, peanuts, soybeans, sunflower seeds, and tobacco.
Inhalation of low levels of Cd for years or consumption of food with elevated Cd
may cause kidney disease or fragile bones.
Chromium 62 2 × 10-6 Cr is a known carcinogen. Concentrations in air are typically less than 2% of
(Cr) those that cause respiratory problems in Cr workers. Avoid tobacco smoke and
older pressure-treated lumber to minimize exposure.
Lead (Pb) 62 NA Children are more vulnerable that adults. Neurological problems include
encephalopathy (global brain dysfunction) producing behavioral and cognitive
deficits, damage to peripheral nerves, anemia, and kidney damage.
Manganese 168 NA Major exposure comes via consumption of large amounts of grains, beans, nuts,
(Mn) tea, and nutritional supplements. Small amounts are inhaled. Accumulation in the
brain, particularly in patients with liver disease, may cause symptoms similar to
Parkinson’s disease.
The Pollutants

Mercury (Hg) 51 NA See the text for detailed discussion.

Nickel (Ni) 52 4 × 10-7 There are multiple routes of exposure including inhalation. Food is the major
source. The average concentration in air is 2.2 ng/m3 and is attached to small
21

particles. Concentrations found to cause cancer were 100,000 to 1 million times

greater than that commonly in air, and 10% to 20% if people are allergic to Ni.
Table 3.2
(continued)
22

1994 Emissions Cancer

HAP (tons per year) riskc Toxicityb

Hydrogen 134,000 NA Rain removes from atmosphere, limiting exposure from HCl released into
chloride (HCl) the air.
Chapter 3

Hydrogen 23,000 NA Rain removes from atmosphere, limiting exposure from HF released into the air,
fluoride (HF) low concentrations of fluorine harden teeth and bones.
Acrolein 27 NA Inhalation causes irritation of nasal mucosa or other parts of the respiratory tract.
Outdoor air concentrations range between 0.5 and 3.2 ppb (parts per billion).
Minimum risk levels for chronic duration inhalation are not available and are
about 3 ppb for exposures of less than 14 days. Environmental tobacco smoke is
the major cause of exposure.
Dioxinsa 0.00020 5 × 10-8 Dioxins are probably carcinogens. They may cause a variety of skin problems,
including chloracne. Type 2 diabetes and other endocrine disorders have been
attributed to dioxin exposure.
Formaldehyde 29 Formaldehyde decomposes to formic acid and carbon monoxide within a day. Air
concentrations in the highest areas are 10 to 20 ppb. Many home products release
formaldehyde, and indoor air concentrations are usually higher than in outdoor
air. Formaldehyde is an irritant and is dangerous to life at a concentration of
20 ppm. It is likely to be a carcinogen.

a. Dioxin emissions are the summation of dioxin equivalents for each member of this family relative to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-
p-dioxin
b. Toxicity information was obtained from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ToxGuidesTM. Available at:
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxguides/index.asp, Public Health Statements;
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/PHS/Index.asp, or ToxFAQsTM;
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/index.asp.
c. Cancer risk = highest cancer risk for maximally exposed individual due to inhalation of the hazardous air pollutant for 70 years
at the highest presumed concentration. For details of modeling, see [1], section 6.1.1 of and the health risks sections of the appendixes
in volume 2.
 The Pollutants 23

Five years later, the Agency published its initial report, followed by
the final version titled, “Study of Hazardous Air Pollutant Emissions
from Electric Utility Steam Generating Units—Final Report to Congress.”
This two-volume opus remains as one of the most definitive sources of
data about the emissions associated with burning coal to produce elec-
tricity [1]. There were 684 utility plants that informed that study. A
hazardous air pollutant emissions testing program was established at 52
of these plants that were selected because they were representative of the
industry as a whole. The testing program identified 67 pollutants with a
potential for emission by utilities. These pollutants underwent an addi-
tional evaluation to estimate the risks to individuals who were likely to
have the largest exposures. The EPA scientists used a conservative Human
Exposure Model to identify a subset of these pollutants that posed the
greatest risk to health. The subset of these pollutants, whose exposure
was primarily by inhalation, was augmented by others whose exposure
was by non-inhalational routes if the pollutant was toxic, persistent,
tended to bioaccumulate, was emitted in large quantities, or was radioac-
tive. A total of 14 pollutants was identified and became the focus of the
final report. These, minus radionuclides (discussed below), along with
1994 emission projections and their health effects, are shown in table
3.2. Since they are regulated under other provisions of the Clean Air Act,
oxides of sulfur, oxides of nitrogen, and particulates were not considered
in this analysis. These pollutants form the core of the criteria air pollut-
ants. Because of their critical role in the production of the adverse health
effects associated with burning coal, criteria air pollutants are discussed
in the next section of this chapter.
A separate modeling strategy was used to estimate the risks posed by
the emission of radionuclides. The nuclides of greatest concern are
uranium and thorium plus the products of their radioactive decay. The
modeling predicted that the highest multipathway (inhalation, ingestion,
etc.) exposure to radiation would lead to an absorbed dose of about 1.5
millirems per year. This is about 1.5% of a reasonable estimate for the
natural background radiation exposure (note: background radiation
exposures vary substantially depending on a number of factors). The
report predicted that this radionuclide exposure would translate into
about 0.3 cancer deaths per year for inhabitants living within 50 kilo-
meters (about 30 miles) of each utility.
24 Chapter 3

In 1986, in legislation unrelated to the Clean Air Act, Congress created

the Toxics Release Inventory based on the premise that the public
had a right to information about the release of over 600 chemicals and
elements into the environment. The TRI is now available at http://
www.epa.gov/tri.

Arsenic
Of the compounds listed in table 3.2, the health risks associated with
arsenic warrant a more detailed discussion. Arsenic pollution is a concern
in virtually all aspects of coal production and use ranging from leaching
from mine tailings, air emissions during combustion, and, more recently,
as a component of coal combustion waste, namely coal ash.
Of the pollutants in the table, arsenic may be the most familiar to the
general population. The familiarity of this poison is exemplified by
the farcical black comedy “Arsenic and Old Lace” in which two
elderly spinsters poison male boarders with elderberry wine that contains
arsenic.
Arsenic is a class A carcinogen, meaning it is known to cause cancer
in humans [3]. The inhalation of arsenic is associated with an increased
risk for the development of lung cancer, and ingestion, typically in
drinking water, the principal means of human exposure, is associated
with an increased risk of skin cancers (excluding melanomas), and
carcinomas of the urinary bladder, liver, and lung. Arsenic is found in
particulate matter that has an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less.
Other trace metals, including antimony, beryllium, cadmium, cobalt,
chromium, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium, and zinc,
are also found in these small particles [4]. The concentration of arsenic
in the air varies by location, and ranges between 0.5 and 7.2 ng/m3
(nanograms per cubic meter) [4]. Particulate pollution is very toxic, as
discussed elsewhere in this and other chapters. It is not clear whether
arsenic-containing particles are more or less toxic than other particulates.
At the present time the EPA classifies particulates by size and not by
composition.
There are many assessments of the risks associated with arsenic. In
the EPA report on HAPS, the Agency estimated that the lung cancer risk
associated with arsenic inhalation was about one in a million [1]. This
estimate was based on the presumed air concentration of 0.0002 μg/m3
 The Pollutants 25

over a lifetime of 70 years [1]. In another report, the State of California

Air Resources Board estimated that between 16 and 40 Californians died
each year from arsenic-induced cancers [5].
Based on these assessments, it is reasonable to conclude that the risks
posed by air emissions of arsenic are relatively small, particularly when
considered alongside the risks posed by oxides of sulfur, nitrogen,
mercury, and particulates of all types. This does not mean that arsenic
emissions should not be curtailed, to the extent possible. The greatest
risk posed by arsenic may be that which is associated with the disposal
of coal combustion wastes, as discussed in chapter 4.

Criteria Air Pollutants

As discussed in the section on the historical evolution of air pollution
controls, the term “criteria air pollutants” arose as a result of amend-
ments to the Clean Air Act provisions that required the EPA to focus on
the health and welfare effects of six pollutants known to be hazardous
to human health. The criteria pollutants most relevant to burning coal
are sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and particulate matter.
Carbon monoxide and lead are also criteria pollutants. Lead was included
at the time the list was formulated because of the large amount emitted
by burning leaded gasoline. The Clean Air Act mandates periodic revision
of these standards as new knowledge emerges. The political landscape
all too often trumps science in EPA decision-making, as discussed in
chapter 14.

Oxides of Sulfur
Almost all sulfur in coal forms sulfur dioxide when it is burned, regard-
less of its initial chemical form. Smaller amounts of sulfur trioxide are
also produced. Therefore the term SOx is used frequently to refer to all
oxides of sulfur. SOx that are present in the air as gases include sulfur
dioxide, sulfur trioxide, and gaseous sulfuric acid. These compounds are
toxic in and of themselves. In addition sulfur oxides make an important
contribution to the formation of secondary particulate matter, as
explained below. Burning coal to produce electricity is by far the leading
source of US sulfur dioxide emissions. The EPA Acid Rain Program has
been effective in reducing these emissions from 13.1 million tons in 1998
to 5.7 million tons in 2009 as shown in figure 3.1.
26 Chapter 3

Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxides Emissions

under Clean Air Act, Acid Rain Program
14
Sulfur dioxide
Nitrogen oxides
12
Emissions (in millions of tons)

10

0
1995 1996 1996 1996 1996 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Year

Figure 3.1
US emissions of oxides of sulfur and nitrogen from 1995 to 2009. Decreases are
attributable to the EPA Acid Rain Program of the Clean Air Act. Data available
at http://camddataandmaps.epa.gov/gdm/index.cfm.

Sulfur dioxide is the most important of the oxides of sulfur, in terms

of the mass emitted and health effects. It is a colorless gas at room tem-
perature and pressure. It dissolves rapidly and completely in water or
aqueous solutions, such as the moist linings of the nose and the upper
airway. It is easily identified because of its highly characteristic, strong,
pungent, and unpleasant smell. In the United States, almost all emissions
of oxides of sulfur are the result of burning fossil fuels, mainly coal, by
electrical utilities, and industrial fossil fuel use [6]. These two categories
account for about 95% of anthropogenic emissions of the oxides of
sulfur. Electrical utilities and industrial boilers are referred to as point
sources because they are discrete and immobile. The remaining sulfurous
emissions arise from the transportation industry and natural sources such
as volcanoes and wildfires. Worldwide, human activity is thought to be
responsible for about 99% of the sulfur dioxide in the air. Small amounts
are released by volcanoes where the rotten egg smell of hydrogen sulfide
 The Pollutants 27

is often present as well. In addition small amounts of sulfur dioxide are

formed secondarily from naturally occurring sulfur-containing com-
pounds in chemical reactions that use sunlight as an energy source [6].
These small distributed sources of SO2 formation are found in marine
environments along the east and west coasts of the United States. Their
contribution to the total atmospheric concentration of sulfur dioxide is
minute.
Once released into the atmosphere, sulfur dioxide forms sulfuric acid
via a series of chemical reactions. Coal-fired power plants release large
amounts of both of these gases. Sulfuric acid is the major component of
acid rain. The direct effects of sulfur dioxide as a powerful irritant, its
propensity to cause acid rain and to form particulates, and the enormity
of the amounts released into the atmosphere, make this gas a leading
cause of the adverse health effects of burning coal [7].
The impact of the oxides of sulfur was identified and quantified as
“external damages” in the National Research Council report on the
Hidden Costs of Energy caused by burning coal [7]. External damages
are the result of converting the adverse effects of a pollutant, on morbidity,
premature mortality, crop yields, and so forth, into a dollar cost. The
costs attributed to sulfur dioxide were projected to be on the order of
3.8 cents/kWh (per kilowatt hour) of electricity [7]. Because of uncertain-
ties in the data and various assumptions used to make these projections,
such as population density around a given plant and adequacy of pollu-
tion control devices, the range of the calculated damage estimates was
substantial. The lowest estimate, at the 5th percentile, was 0.24 cents/
kWh and the highest, at the 95th percentile, was 11.9 cents/kWh. Not
surprisingly, the oldest plants with the fewest pollution control devices
were the most important sources of this pollutant. Those built before
1950 typically emitted 20.58 lb/MWh (pounds per million watt hours).
of electricity generated, whereas those built after 1990 and equipped with
modern pollution control devices that perform flue gas desulfurization,
typically emitted 3.88 lb/MWh.
Sulfur emitted by point sources, such as coal plants, returns to the
earth in liquid or dry forms. Liquid sulfur compounds are a major com-
ponent of acid rain. Dry forms include the secondary particles that are
formed when sulfurous compounds in the air react with other airborne
compounds to form small particles. Typically these particles have an
28 Chapter 3

aerodynamic diameter that is less than or equal to 2.5 μm. Sulfur-

containing particles form a major portion of those in that size category,
particularly in the eastern part of the United States.
Much of the sulfur emitted by point sources, such as coal-fired boilers,
is deposited relatively close to the source. This is illustrated clearly in
part A of figure 3.2, which depicts wet and dry deposition of SOx in
the Northern Hemisphere [8]. High deposition rates are shown in the
United States east of the Mississippi River, eastern Europe, southern and
northeastern India, Korea, Japan, and the eastern and northeastern
parts of China. These are all regions of heavy industrialization where air
pollution poses significant health and environmental problems. There
is substantial congruity between sulfur deposition and the location of
the coal plants in the United States that are associated with the greatest
external costs, largely in the form of adverse health outcomes, as shown
in figure 13.2 [7].
In 2007 there were approximately 500 sites in the United States where
the atmospheric concentration of sulfur dioxide was measured, as
required by the EPA. Data from these sites show that the highest
sulfur dioxide concentrations in the air are present in the Ohio River
Valley [6]. Steubenville, Ohio, bears the dubious distinction of having
the highest known mean concentration in its air of any city in the
United States. The concentration varies substantially at different
times of the day, being highest during the day and during the summer
[6]. These are the times when the consumption of electricity is the highest.
Although atmospheric conditions, such as air flow and air current pat-
terns, play a role in determining sulfur dioxide concentrations on
an hour-to-hour basis, coal-produced electrical power generation rates,
which are themselves subject to diurnal and seasonal variations, are
critical factors.

Oxides of Nitrogen
NOx, is a generic term used in many publications and reports that
refers to chemical combinations of nitrogen, the most abundant gas in
the atmosphere, with oxygen, the second most abundant atmospheric
gas. Nitrogen oxides are formed during the combustion of fossil fuels at
high temperatures. It takes a lot of energy to force the combination of
these two elements. The high temperatures that are critical to efficient
 The Pollutants 29

(a)

(b)

Figure 3.2
Northern Hemispheric depositions of oxides of sulfur and oxides of nitrogen.
(a) Deposition rates for sulfur oxides and (b) deposition rates for oxides of
nitrogen. Darker areas indicate higher deposition rates [8]. Note: this figure is
adapted from the full color versions in the original publication. Reprinted with
permission from Environmental Science & Technology. Copyright 2002 Ameri-
can Chemical Society.
30 Chapter 3

combustion processes are the key to the formation of nitrogen oxides.

At the exact moment of combustion, nitric oxide is the most abundant
chemical in the family of nitrogen oxides. However, nitric oxide is chemi-
cally unstable and combines spontaneously with oxygen in the atmo-
sphere to form nitrogen dioxide, a reddish-brown gas with a very strong
and pungent odor. Nitrogen dioxide is responsible, in part, for the brown-
ish haze that is characteristic of ground-level smog.
There are two major mechanisms for the formation of the oxides of
nitrogen. These create the thermal and fuel oxides [9]. Thermal oxides
of nitrogen are those formed by the direct, high-temperature, oxidation
of the nitrogen present in the atmosphere. This reaction increases in
importance at temperatures in excess of 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Fuel
oxides of nitrogen are formed by the chemical reaction of nitrogenous
compounds present in the fuel itself with oxygen in the air during com-
bustion. Predictably, fuel oxide production increases as the nitrogen
content of the fuel increases and accounts for as much as 80% of the
oxides of nitrogen formed by burning coal. Burning natural gas and
liquid fuels typically form smaller amounts of fuel oxides of nitrogen
than formed by burning coal.
The definition of oxides of nitrogen that is contained in the National
Ambient Air Quality Standards legislation is different from that which
is commonly used in other discussions of air pollution. The conventional
definition limits this category to nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide. The
air quality legislation expands this definition to include all forms of
oxidized nitrogen. For most practical purposes, and in this chapter, the
term oxides of nitrogen will refer mainly to nitric oxide and nitrogen
dioxide. A more complete list of the oxides of nitrogen, as required by
air quality legislation, is presented in the EPA Integrated Science Assess-
ment for Oxides of Nitrogen [9,10].
EarthTrends reports that worldwide emissions of oxides of nitrogen
reached nearly 140 million tons in 2000 (available at http://
earthtrends.wri.org, searchable database results). North American emis-
sions trailed those of Asia (including China) and Europe. Panel b of figure
3.2 depicts worldwide depositions of nitrogen oxides. These resemble
closely the deposition of the oxides of sulfur, as shown in panel a of the
figure. In 2005 gasoline and diesel engines were the most important
sources of nitrogen oxide emissions in the United States. These sources
 The Pollutants 31

are close to the ground and mobile, so the oxides they form are more
highly concentrated and travel shorter distances than those formed in
coal-burning boilers. Electrical utilities, the second-ranked source of
nitrogen oxides, emitted 3.78 million tons in 2005. These emissions come
from stationary point sources and are usually discharged higher into the
atmosphere by smoke stacks where they are diluted by winds and travel
longer distances than those emitted by the transportation industry.
There is enormous variability in the spatial and temporal distribution
of the oxides of nitrogen and the compounds they produce as the result
of chemical reactions in the atmosphere [10]. Inorganic compounds
(those that do not contain carbon atoms) include nitrous acid (HONO),
nitric acid (HNO3), pernitric acid (HO2NO2), and particulate nitrate
(PNO3-). In addition to serving as potent irritants, these inorganic com-
pounds are important contributors to acid rain. There is also a large
number of organic compounds that are a part of the greater family of
nitrogen oxides. Additional details are present in the EPA Integrated
Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen [10].
Not all the news is bad. Under provisions of the Acid Rain Program
of the Clean Air Act, the emissions of oxides of nitrogen have declined
substantially in recent years, as shown in figure 3.1. Emissions in 2009
were approximately one-third of those reported in 1997 as shown in
figure 3.1.

Ozone
A great deal of the importance of the oxides of nitrogen stems from their
role in the production of ground-level ozone, a major component of
smog. It is important to distinguish ground-level ozone from stratospheric-
ozone. Stratospheric ozone protects health and the environment by
blocking ultraviolet rays from the sun. Ground-level ozone is a potent
irritant and an important cause of respiratory disease.
Ozone is a light blue gas with a pungent odor that is similar to that
of chlorine. It is formed in the atmosphere by natural processes, such as
lightning, as well as those that are the consequence of human activity.
These reactions are very complex and depend on many factors, including
altitude. Ozone in the troposphere, the layer of the atmosphere that is
close to the ground, is highly toxic and a threat to health. Ozone in the
stratosphere, the layer of the atmosphere directly above the troposphere,
32 Chapter 3

protects us from ultraviolet rays from the sun. This explains the origin
of the phrase, “Ozone: good up high, bad nearby.”
Ozone is formed in the stratosphere from molecular oxygen [11].
Ultraviolet light from the sun splits molecular oxygen into two atoms of
oxygen in the first reaction that leads to the formation of ozone. These
highly reactive single atoms of oxygen combine with molecular oxygen
to form ozone. Sunlight also splits ozone into molecular oxygen and
single atoms of oxygen. In addition to forming ozone, these single atoms
of oxygen also attack ozone molecules to form two molecules of molecu-
lar oxygen. Thus there is an equilibrium concentration of ozone due to
its constant formation and degradation. The heat generated via these
reactions, and the associated trapping of the energy from the sunlight
that drives them, warms the upper portions of the stratosphere. Without
this blockade or absorption of ultraviolet light, it is unlikely that life as
we know it could exist.
The chemical composition of the lower portions of the atmosphere
(the troposphere) and the reactions that form ozone in this layer are quite
different from those in the upper layers of the atmosphere (the strato-
sphere) [11]. In the troposphere and particularly in the layer closest to
the surface of the earth, the planetary boundary layer, the reactive oxygen
atoms that combine with molecular oxygen to form ozone come from
nitrogen dioxide. The reaction sequence is
NO2 + sunlight → NO + reactive oxygen molecule
reactive oxygen molecule + O2 → O3
In the 1950s atmospheric chemists determined that this reaction could
not generate the concentrations of ozone that were actually present in
the atmosphere. Their research led to the discovery that volatile (easily
vaporized) organic compounds (VOCs) played a critical role. In a highly
simplified form, the reactions that generate ground-level or tropospheric
ozone can be written as follows:
NOx + VOC + ultraviolet light → O3 + other products
There are many volatile organic compounds, and thus hundreds of
chemical reactions that are summarized by the above equation. In urban
areas, carbon monoxide and a wide variety of carbon-containing com-
pounds contribute to the total concentration of these organic molecules.
 The Pollutants 33

In rural areas, methane and carbon monoxide are the most important of
the volatile organic compounds (for an account of methane sources, see
chapter 7). The ratio of nitrogen dioxide to volatile organic compounds
and weather conditions all interact to determine the rate of ozone forma-
tion. Ground-level ozone concentrations are typically highest on hot
summer days, when the physical and atmospheric conditions are the most
favorable for ozone formation.
According to the EPA, almost 16 million tons of these volatile com-
pounds were released into the atmosphere in 2005 (available at http://
www.epa.gov/air/emissions/voc.htm). Solvent use, including paints,
on-road vehicles, off-road equipment, industrial processes, and miscel-
laneous sources including office copiers and printers were the major
contributors to this total. In that same year nitrogen dioxide emissions
totaled about 18.3 million tons.

Particulate Matter
Particulate matter is one of the most important forms of air pollution,
particularly in terms of its worldwide impact on health. From this global
perspective, particulate matter, in the form of indoor smoke from burning
solid fuels, such as coal, wood, and dung, ranks eighth among the top
20 burden-of-disease risk factors [12]. Particulate matter accounted for
about 2.6% of all disability-adjusted life years as reported by the World
Health Organization in 2002. This burden of disease is borne primarily
by those who live in developing countries. Particulate matter is also a
major contributor to urban pollution. In the United States, generating
electricity accounted for approximately 11.4% or 515,000 tons of the
estimated total of 4.48 million tons of small diameter particulates dis-
charged into the atmosphere in 2005 (available at http://www.epa.gov/
air/emissions/pm.htm).
Particulate matter is not a single entity with a defined composition, a
fact that creates many problems in terms of how to characterize and
describe this pollutant. Technically, atmospheric particulate matter exists
in the form of an aerosol. An aerosol is a dispersion of solids and liquids
suspended in a gas. In this case the gas is the atmosphere, and the par-
ticulate matter is in the form of small droplets of liquids and particles
of solids that have many sizes and shapes. Some of the gases in the
atmosphere, such as oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, both of which are
34 Chapter 3

formed by burning coal, as well as ammonia, also contribute to the for-

mation of particulate matter as described below. Substantial seasonal and
geographical variations are also important factors that are relevant to
the sources and formation of this pollutant.
Particle size is the most important basis for the classification of par-
ticulate matter. Size is important because it affects the exposure and,
subsequently, the health effects of particulates. In addition the EPA and
other agencies use particle size as the basis for their regulatory and
monitoring activities. The concept of the size of particulates would be
very simple if they were all perfect spheres and had the same density.
Sadly, this is far from the truth. As one might imagine, based on the fact
that there are multiple modes for their formation and the many chemicals
that are found in them, particulates come in all sizes, shapes, and densi-
ties. While some are spherical and easily described in terms of their size,
others are elongated fibers, flakes, and virtually any other shape imagin-
able. To cope with this variability, and in an attempt simplify things a
bit, atmospheric scientists use the term aerodynamic diameter to describe
the size of atmospheric particles. Regardless of their actual size, shape,
or density, all particles with the same aerodynamic diameter behave
similarly in the atmosphere. More precisely, all particles with the same
aerodynamic diameter reach the same final speed as they settle to the
ground under the influence of gravity. Even this is somewhat oversimpli-
fied. A more detailed definition of aerodynamic diameter is provided in
the glossary.
The terms PM2.5 and PM10 are used to refer to particles with aerody-
namic diameters of 2.5 and 10 μm or less. These acronyms are used
widely in a variety of publications and reports. Some authors take a
shortcut and dispense with the use of the term aerodynamic diameter
completely and use diameter, without any other qualification, to refer to
particle sizes. Unless otherwise specified, I will use the term diameter to
refer to the aerodynamic diameter of particulate matter.
Size and concentration data, expressed in terms of micrograms of a
given form of particulate matter per cubic meter of air, are available from
the EPA. Epidemiologists and many others have relied heavily on size-
based concentration data for their studies of health effects. These data
serve as the basis for almost all of the important studies that link par-
ticulate matter with long- and short-term health outcomes.
 The Pollutants 35

Since particulate matter is an aerosol, most of it enters the body by

inhalation. Particle size is a critical factor that determines where inhaled
particles are deposited. In general, the larger the particle is, the shorter
the distance it travels in the body before it comes to rest after inhalation.
Elegant studies of particle deposition have shown that the larger particles
(the PM10 fraction) are deposited mainly in the nose, nasopharynx, and
the larynx [12,13]. The smaller particles, particularly those with aerody-
namic diameters of about 2.5 and 0.08 μm, are deposited primarily in
the lungs. Particles begin to exert their effects after they enter the lungs
[14,15]. In the lung, some particles enter macrophages, sometimes known
as the “garbage collectors” that remove contaminants. Others enter cells
that are a part of the immune system and thereby begin to activate
immunological reactions. Still others enter the blood stream directly, or
after they are taken up by macrophages, and thus travel to other organs
in the body. These processes are described more fully in chapter 6, which
is devoted to the mechanisms by which pollutants affect the body.
There are also data from animal experiments that suggest that up to
20% of the very small particles trapped by the mucous membranes of
the nose may enter the brain directly via the olfactory nerve, the nerve
that mediates the sense of smell [16]. The end branches of this nerve pass
through small holes in the bone, known as the cribiform plate, that sepa-
rates the nasal cavity from the brain. This creates a direct pathway for
small particles to enter the brain from the atmosphere without passing
through the lungs.
As a result of these studies, particle size became a medically important
criterion for the EPA’s particulate matter standards. This is the primary
justification for the Agency’s current National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for particulates that are 10 and 2.5 μm or less in diameter, as
shown in table 3.1. Once particles are deposited in the body, the real size
of the particle, surface-to-volume ratios, and chemical composition
become the factors that affect particle fate and presumably toxicity.
Another method for the classification of particulate matter is based
on how it is formed. Primary particulates are formed de novo by com-
bustion. As a rule, these have the smallest diameter when the combustion
temperatures are the highest. Primary particulates are also formed by
wear and tear of roads, as metals are smelted, from windblown soil,
volcanic eruptions, from sea spray, and other sources [17]. Secondary
36 Chapter 3

particulates are formed by physical and/or chemical processes acting on

components that are already in the atmosphere. The most important
precursors are oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, ammonia, and volatile
organic compounds [16,18]. Most sulfur dioxide and large portions of
atmospheric oxides of nitrogen are the result of burning coal. Ammonia
is released into the atmosphere as the result of crop fertilization, particu-
larly with anhydrous ammonia. Some volatile organic compounds in the
atmosphere are formed naturally. For example, pinene, the chemical that
underlies the aroma of pine forests, is composed of 10 molecules of
carbon and 16 of hydrogen [17]. Pinenes are normal components of the
resins produced by pine trees and are found in the air near pine forests.
Anthropogenic volatile organic compounds come from paints, solvents,
and other organic compounds that evaporate and enter the atmosphere
[17]. Both naturally occurring and anthropogenic organic compounds
are important in the formation of secondary particulate matter. In addi-
tion some small primary particles agglutinate or stick together to form
larger particles. Droplets of liquids may condense with or be adsorbed
onto other preexisting particles.
As one might imagine, the chemical composition of the particulate
matter provides another basis for classification. The most common
species of particles include sulfates, nitrates, ammonium compounds,
black carbon, organic carbon, and soil-derived particles. Black carbon,
or soot, is formed during the incomplete burning of fossil fuels, such as
coal, oil, and natural gas; forest fires; and other forms of combustion
that involve organic compounds. Atmospheric particles also contain a
vast array of other compounds and elements.
According to the EPA, approximately 515,000 tons of particles with
a diameter of 2.5 μm or less, were emitted by electrical utilities in 2005
[19]. Road dust, miscellaneous processes, and industrial sources were
the only sources that exceeded the amount produced by the utilities.
The concentration of these smallest particles tends to be the highest in
California and in urban areas in the northeastern part of the United
States [4].
A nationwide array of monitoring sites records the total amount of
the smallest particles detected in a given time period. They do not easily
yield data about their source. Some of this information can be gleaned
from reports of the chemical composition of particles at various sites.
 The Pollutants 37

For example, data gathered by NARSTO (formerly the North American

Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone, now a broader organization
of public and private groups in the United States, Canada, and Mexico)
show that the composition of the particles 2.5 μm or less in diameter
varies substantially among sites [4]. Almost half of the particles collected
at sites in the Ohio Valley and other parts of the eastern United States
are in the form of sulfates. This is almost certainly due to the emission
of oxides of sulfur produced by burning coal in this region. In this same
time period in Toronto, Ontario, where small particle concentrations
were similar, only about 20% of these were sulfates. In California,
ammonium nitrate is an important component of particulates formed
from ammonia released into the atmosphere from the use of fertilizers
by large-scale agriculture. The relationships among sulfates, nitrates, and
ammonium compounds are complex, due to the dynamic equilibrium
that exists in the atmosphere among constituents that form secondary
particles [20]. For example, a drop in the concentration of sulfur oxides
creates the simultaneous potential for ammonium nitrate concentrations
to rise, until ammonia is depleted.
Laden et al. have studied the composition of small particles in six US
cities and report finding measurable amounts of silicon, aluminum,
calcium, iron, manganese, potassium, lead, bromine, copper, zinc, sulfur,
selenium, vanadium, nickel, and chlorine [21]. Using complex statistical
techniques, they identified a silicon factor as a marker for particulates
arising from the earth’s crust, a lead factor for particles from motor
vehicle exhaust, and a selenium factor related to burning coal. They then
linked the selenium, or coal factor, to daily mortality.
Meteorological conditions also play an important role in determining
the concentration of the smallest particles [17]. In the eastern part of the
United States, these concentrations are the highest in the summer, whereas
in the western part of the country, they tend to be the highest in the
winter and fall. There are also changes in the composition of small par-
ticles as the result of seasonal changes in fossil fuel combustion and
agricultural practices, as well as temperature considerations and the rela-
tive concentration of volatile organic compounds in the air from both
natural and anthropogenic sources.
It is now possible to measure the concentration of the 2.5 μm particles
on a global scale using satellite imaging techniques [22]. Using advanced
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effect of some interiors is very rich and brilliant; but when
decoration takes the place of construction, however well executed it
may be, it becomes more of an incrustation than a requirement.
Lorenzo Bernini (1589-1680) and Francesco
Borromini (1599-1667) were Italian architects
who chiefly brought about the Rococo in Italy.
They treated the classical forms with
extraordinary freedom. The column especially
was degraded in its use. It sometimes supported
only a few mouldings, and at other times was
carried through two or three stories, when its
proper function is to represent one story. One
kind of architectural style a little later than this
period was called the “Jesuit Style” (Fig. 412), in
which churches of the Jesuit Order were built.
On the vaulted ceilings of these churches a florid
type of painting of sacred subjects was used as
decoration. Fig. 412.—Portion of the
In Spain the Renaissance, mixed with some Façade of St. Paul and
St. Louis at Paris.
Saracenic features, produced some very good
work; the typical example of Spanish
Renaissance is the Escurial, the great palace of the Spanish kings.
In Germany the Italian Renaissance made but a tardy advance,
and was never thoroughly at home in that country. German
Renaissance is far less refined than that of other countries which
were influenced by the Italian style. It is chiefly in painting,
furniture, book illustration, and in goldsmiths’ work that it appears at
its best, and not in architecture. This was owing to the art of
Germany being at that time in the hands of the burghers when the
advent of the Renaissance took place, and also that the mass of the
people were more concerned in the study of ethics and philosophy
than the arts. Another reason may be added, that the nation was
unsettled, and occupied with the great religious upheaval of the
Reformation. All these things proved to be sufficient to retard the
advancement of the Renaissance in Germany for more than a
hundred years. One of the best examples of the Renaissance we can
point to in Germany is the Castle of Heidelberg, built by the Elector
Otto Heinrich (1556-1559). The two façades of this castle, which are
now in ruins, have engaged columns and pilasters; the windows
have rather heavy-headed features, and are richly carved; statues
are placed in the niches between the windows. The portico of the
Town Hall at Cologne is another example, and the Cloth Hall at
Brunswick is a very interesting specimen of German Renaissance. It
is deficient in proportion, however, by the extreme horizontality of its
eight series of low stories in the principal façade, but is otherwise
very picturesque.
The German Renaissance towards the later periods was
characterised by its elaborate carving of ornament, figures, and
animals in wood and stone; armorial bearings, escutcheons, shields,
and cartouches or ornamental labels were very common in German
work, and in most other forms of Renaissance ornament in Europe,
except in the purest form of the Italian Cinquecento, when highly
decorative vase forms and labels took the place of the shield and
cartouche work of the Quattrocento period.
The Renaissance in England made its earliest appearance in the
reign of Henry VIII. John of Padua was an Italian architect employed
by that king. Hampton Court Palace in its earlier portions, built by
Cardinal Wolsey in 1515, is Gothic, but it has been considerably
added to since, and partly rebuilt in the time of William III. in a kind
of Renaissance.
In the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and James I., the Elizabethan or
English Renaissance and the Jacobean respectively were
predominant. The latter style was developed by Dutch architects
working in England on the Elizabethan models, and is distinguished
by shield work and carvings in high relief, in opposition to the lower
relief cartouche and strap-work of the Elizabethan style.
The Elizabethan Renaissance is more like German work than the
French, but, of course, has its native peculiarities, developed from its
mixture with the Tudor Gothic of the time. This mixture is seen in
many of the old halls and mansions built about this time in England.
Wollaton Hall is a fine example of the Elizabethan (Fig. 413), and
Holland House, Kensington, is another fine mansion of the same
style (Fig. 414).
These castellated buildings of the Elizabethan style, in red brick
and stone dressings, are in singular and pleasant harmony with the
grand parks and richly wooded English landscape with which they
are usually surrounded.
Inigo Jones, in the early part of the seventeenth century, and Sir
Christopher Wren, his successor, were the greatest names in
architecture of the English Renaissance period. The former was a
close follower of the Italian architect Palladio, and designed, usually,
his buildings after the Roman models. The palace at Whitehall, the
church and piazza in Covent Garden, and Crewe Hall in Cheshire
were built from his designs.
 Fig. 413.—Elizabethan, North Entrance, Wollaton
House.

The Cathedral of St. Paul’s is too well known to need description.

It may be mentioned as the most important example of the late
Renaissance in England. It was thirty-five years in building (1675-
1710), and although some details and the ornament generally incline
to the Baroque, the building as a whole is one of the finest and most
impressive works ever produced in any country. Wren built a great
many churches in London during the time that was occupied in the
building of St. Paul’s, St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, being one of his
finest. Chelsea Hospital, the Royal Exchange, together with some
City Halls and twenty-five churches, were built from his designs or
under his directions.
The architecture of the present day in France leans mostly to
Renaissance traditions.
 Fig. 414.—The Ancient Parlour, Holland House.

In Germany, Greek and Roman styles find favour, but Gothic and
Renaissance, and sometimes Romanesque style of buildings are now
erected.
In England about one hundred years ago there was a Greek
revival, due in a great measure to the publication of Stuart and
Revett’s works in connection with their close study of Grecian
architectural remains. St. Pancras Church, in London, is one of the
outcomes of this revival. Sir William Chambers was the architect of
the beautiful riverside building—Somerset House, on the Thames
Embankment (1725-1796); he also designed a great deal of furniture
and the State carriage. He published important works on
architecture and furniture, which had considerable influence on the
design of the latter in England. In the first half of this century a
Gothic revival took place, which was greatly brought about and
assisted by the writings and architectural work of A. W. Pugin. The
Houses of Parliament, built by Barry, are the finest examples of the
Gothic revival in England. They are built in the Perpendicular or
Tudor style. Sir Gilbert Scott was a late exponent of the modern
Gothic style (1811-78), and was the architect of the Albert Memorial
in Kensington Gardens, St. Pancras Railway Station and Hotel,
London, besides building and restoring many churches in the Gothic
style.
The architecture of the present day in England tends to the
Renaissance, with a slight mixture of Gothic and much that is
original in the ornamental details, but Gothic is still a favourite style
for churches.
 Ornament of the Renaissance.
The ornament of the Renaissance period was founded on the
Roman. Before describing the former it will be necessary to say a
few words concerning its prototype, the Roman. More than anything
else the great use of the acanthus foliage characterizes the
ornamental art of the Romans. The treatment of the acanthus in
Roman architecture has already been noticed in the first part of this
work. A fine boldness and freedom was everywhere apparent in the
Roman treatment of this foliage (Figs. 28 and 29).
Large scrolls of acanthus (see Fig. 319) in which birds, reptiles,
and insects are arranged to fill the unoccupied spaces are used in
pilasters, friezes, and panels.
Chimeras as whole or half figures with foliage endings, griffins,
and large vases well decorated, were used as symmetrical
arrangements in friezes.
The well-known acanthus scroll frieze from Trajan’s Forum is a
very typical example of the soft-leaved acanthus. The rosette of the
scroll, as in nearly all classic ornament, is made up from acanthus-
leaves arranged in a radiating manner, like a flower (Fig. 415).

Fig. 415.—Rosette from Scroll, Forum

of Trajan.
 Some of the ornament on the antique Roman bronze and silver
work is particularly beautiful and delicate, as may be seen on the
silver wine crater found at Hildesheim in Hanover, which is one
object of a collection found at that place in the year 1869. These
and the treasures found at Pompeii and Herculaneum, together with
the wall paintings at the same places, give us a good idea of Roman
art in domestic decoration and the minor arts and crafts.

Fig. 416.—Nest of Scroll, Roman Panel, Florence.

The Pompeian objects, chiefly in bronze (Fig. 417) and the wall
paintings (Figs. 418-20) are as much Greek as Roman in style, as
they are chiefly the work of Greek artists executed for the Romans.
Fig. 417.—Objects of Art handiwork, from
Pompeii.
 Fig. 418.—The Goddess Demeter enthroned. Wall
painting from Pompeii. (B.)

The Baths of Titus and Diocletian and the palace of the Cæsars on
the Palatine Hill, Rome, were decorated with grotesques similar to
those of Pompeii, and were studied to great advantage by Raphael
and his pupils and assistants when decorating the Loggia of the
Vatican. Thin tendrils, festoons of fruit, animals, masks, all kinds of
grotesque forms and birds flying and playing in and out of light
scrolls, architectural constructions of a light and fantastic character,
and panels of landscapes formed the subjects that were painted on
the walls, which were often divided into friezes, panels, and dados.
These decorations were executed in tempera colours of bright reds,
greens, yellows, blues, and black. The antique grotesques, so called
from being found on the walls of underground chambers, or
“grottos,” together with the figure subjects taken from Greek gems,
furnished Raphael and his celebrated pupils Giovanni da Udine
(1487-1561) and Perino del Vaga (1500-47) with fanciful ideas for
the decoration of the Loggia of the Vatican, and the Villa Madama, at
Rome. These grottesches were painted in a kind of fresco or
tempera on a white ground with a fairly bright variety of colouring.
Some portions of the decorations were executed in stucco relief
made of a composition of lime and marble dust, and were
sometimes gilded. Giovanni da Udine, or Ricamatore, as he is also
called, was especially celebrated at this stucco-work, and in the
drawing of animals and birds. He, and another celebrated artist,
Primaticco, assisted Raphael’s great pupil Giulio Romano (1492-
1546) in a similar kind of decoration at the ducal palace of Mantua.
The latter artist executed the principal figure work at Mantua, and
also at the Villa Madama.

Fig. 419—Pan. Wall Painting at Herculaneum.

(B.)

There is no lack of good examples of Italian ornament, especially

in carved marble and wood, in the churches and palaces of Italy and
France.
The Museum at South Kensington is rich in casts and in real
examples of Italian ornament, has excellent copies of the Raphael
pilasters and other examples of painted decorations. In addition to
this the maiolica plates and vases furnish good examples of painted
decoration of the Renaissance period.
It is only necessary here to illustrate and describe a few examples
of the style, as they appear in architectural decoration, for under the
heads of the various historic industrial arts many examples of
Renaissance ornament will come under our notice in a succeeding
volume.

Fig. 420.—Mural Painting. Pompeii.

 Fig. 421.—Pilaster by
Donatello.

Fig. 422.—Ornament from

Baptistery Gates, Florence.

Belonging to the ornament of the fifteenth century, or as it is

called the “Quattrocento” (1400), we have a beautiful little pilaster
(Fig. 421), designed by Donatello (1386-1438). The portion of the
ornament of the architecture from Ghiberti’s bronze gates of the
Baptistery of Florence (Fig. 422) shows the use of natural forms
ornamentally arranged, which was one of the characteristics of the
Quattrocento style; and the tabernacle (Fig. 423) shows the
transition between the use of the natural forms and the more severe
conventional ornament of the Cinquecento period. Luca della Robbia
(1400-81) was one of the ablest masters of the Quattrocento, and
Riccio, called Briosco, was also an artist of this period who was
engaged on the decorative work of the ducal palace at Venice.
The Cinquecento (1500) is the name given to the style of the
sixteenth century. So many brilliant names belong to this period that
it becomes a difficulty to give in our space an adequate selection of
this work. It was towards the end of the fifteenth century that many
of the ancient monuments had been excavated; and the Italian
artists from Michelangelo and his great contemporaries down to the
artists of lesser powers, followed the strong inclination of the times
in their deep study of the antique, and sought more and more to
invest their creations with the spirit of ancient art. The lingering
traditions of Byzantine forms that were in some degree a part of the
Quattrocento style were now entirely excluded from the purer art of
the Cinquecento, and anything that had a precedent for existence in
the antique was copied or imitated in a modified manner, and
improved upon in point of delicacy in the treatment.
 Fig. 423.—Tabernacle. End of
Fifteenth Century. Italian. (P.)

Though the arabesques of Raphael and his pupils in the Loggia of

the Vatican (1515) have been severely criticised as being full of
coarse absurdities and designed with questionable taste, still, taking
them as a whole, they were a decided improvement on the grosser
absurdities of the Pompeian school of grotesque decoration, and
they are certainly distinguished by good drawing and clever
execution. Doubtless the later achievements in painted decoration at
the Villa Madama and the ducal palace of Mantua had less
incongruities of design and were more refined than the Vatican
pilasters, but they lack the freshness, the boldness, and virility of the
latter. It is not always a good argument, for instance, to say—which
has often been said of the decoration in question—that a thick stem
should be used to support heavy masses, for it can be said with
equal truth that a thick stem may be painted to look like a weak
vegetable flabby stalk—like that of a cabbage—and so have really a
weaker appearance than one painted to represent the fibrous stem
of a woody tree; and besides, if a thin stem supporting a heavy
mass is vigorously drawn, it will look strong enough, and be useful
also in giving the necessary amount of contrast that is wanted in
decoration. Such a thing may be quite admissible in painted
ornament that would be out of place in sculptured work or in
architectural forms.

Fig. 424.—Cinquecento Floral Ornament. Acanthus, Oak,

Convolvulus, &c.

The Cinquecento artists were better craftsmen than the Romans.

The design and delicacy of finish on some of the sculptured
ornament of the sixteenth century have never been excelled in any
period of the world’s art history. It is strange that many of our
would-be teachers in design of the present day are not in sympathy
with it; perhaps however, it is not to be wondered at, for they may
have tried, and found how difficult it
really is to get within measurable
distance of its excellence. It is cheap
and plausible to say that a style is dead
with the people who created it; but this
is not what the artists of the sixteenth
century said, and we know what they
produced out of a dead style. By all
means let us have originality, if it is
good art, but let us have the good art
first.
In the Cinquecento ornament we find
that a greater variety of plants, animals,
and designed objects, such as vases,
candelabra, and armour, were made use
of than is generally found in antique
ornament. The acanthus, vine, oak, and
poppy foliage have all been simplified to Fig. 425.—Venetian Panel. Sixteenth
a general type of acanthoid leafage (Fig. Century.
425). Such animals as the lion, goat,
and the dolphin fish form occur frequently, sometimes almost
naturally, but more often with foliated endings (Figs. 425 and 426).
Some compositions are made up entirely with well-chosen vase and
candelabra forms (Fig. 427).
 Fig. 427.—Candelabra and
Vase Panel.

Fig. 426.—Cinquecento; from the

Martinengo Tomb, Brescia.

In the Cinquecento, the Greek guilloche pattern with rosettes is

used, and an Italian rendering of the anthemion, and also of the
Greek honeysuckle band pattern (Fig. 428).
The Lombardi family of Venice were celebrated as sculptors in
ornament. Pietro the elder (1481) was the architect of Dante’s tomb
in San Francesco at Ravenna, but his greatest work was the Church
of Santa Maria de’ Miracoli at Venice, in which he was assisted by his
sons Tullio and Antonio in the sculptured decorations. Tullio was the
most gifted as a sculptor, and his ornament is the best of the
Cinquecento period at Venice (Fig. 429).
Martino Lombardo was the architect of the Scuda di San Marco at
Venice, in the decorations of which he was aided by Tullio. Some of
the best specimens of the ornament of this period are to be found
on the Martinengo tomb, in the Church of the Corpo di Cristo (1530).
The ornament bears a strong resemblance to the Lombardi, but the
sculptor is not known (Fig. 426).

Fig. 428.—From a Marble Fountain in the Louvre. (1508.)

The ceilings from Serlio’s book of architecture, and from San

Spirito, by Sansovino, are good examples of the Renaissance
panelling and decorative filling (Figs. 431 and 432).

Fig. 429.—Panel from Santa Maria de’ Miracoli,

Brescia. By Tullio Lombardo. (1500.)
Fig. 430.—Panel from the Facade of Santa Maria de’
Miracoli, Brescia. (1530.)
 Fig. 431.—Renaissance Ceiling. (From Serlio’s Architecture.)

One of the purest examples of the Cinquecento in France is the

ornament found on the pilasters of the monument erected to Louis
XII. at St. Denis, Paris (Fig. 433). The sculptors are said to have
been Jean Just and François Gentil. The figure work on this
monument was executed by Trebatti, a Florentine sculptor. Another
phase of the Renaissance in France is the Henry Deux style. It is
illustrated in the carved door-panels from the Château d’Anet (Figs.
434 and 435) (1548), where the tracery, interlaced work, and shields
are combined to form the features of this ornament. The initial letter
H of the king and the crescent arms of Diana of Poitiers are seen
very often on the shields.
 Fig. 432.—Ceiling Decoration, from San Spirito, Florence. By
Sansovino.

Jean Goujon and Jean Cousin were employed on the decoration of

this castle.
 Fig. 433.—Pilasters, from the Monument
to Louis XII., St. Denis, Paris.

An extremely rich example of French carved wood is the panel

from the Château Gaillon, in Normandy (1515) (Fig. 436).
 Fig. 434.—Carved Panel, Henry II. style, from the
Château d’Anet.

Fig. 436.—Carved Wood; Château

Fig. 435.—Carved Panel, Henry II. style, from the Gaillon. (1505.)
Château d’Anet.

The above examples, and the chimney-piece panel by Germain

Pilon (1560) (Fig. 437), another sculptor employed by Catherine de’
Medici, are a few of the best specimens of the Cinquecento period in
France.
Elizabethan ornament, or that of the Renaissance in England, is
characterized by a preponderance of strap-work, and has animals,
masks, rosettes, half-lion or half-human terminals, debased class of
mouldings, and very little foliage. The example given—the panelling
from the Old Guard Chamber, Westminster (1600), exhibits a strong
influence of Saracenic tracery that was prevalent in much of the later
furniture and textiles of the Renaissance (Fig. 438).

Fig. 437.—Panel from Chimneypiece; Louvre. By

Germain Pilon.
 Fig. 438.—Elizabethan Panelling, from the Old Guard
Chamber, Westminster.

Shield-work was not so prominent in the pure Elizabethan as in

the Jacobean (James I.) style; the carved stone escutcheon-like
work from Crewe Hall, Cheshire, attributed to Inigo Jones (Fig. 439),
shows the beginning of the Jacobean shield-work. This style is best
seen in the carved-wood furniture of the period, and both it and the
Elizabethan are generally speaking offshoots of the Flemish and
German phases of the Renaissance. Elizabethan ornament is of great
variety, the panelling and other arrangements are sometimes
composed purely of strap-work of a rectangular flat perforated
appearance, sometimes seen in the doorways and chimney fronts, as
at Hardwick Hall, Haddon Hall, Speke and Crewe Halls. Another kind
is of a more curved variety, with figures and animals, as seen in the
illustration from an old house at Exeter now in Kensington Museum
(Fig. 440); another kind is carved in rectangular or curved and
notched frames of cartouche work with the smaller spaces and little
panels carved in imitation of jewels with oval or lozenge-shaped
facets. Columns of Ionic or Corinthian orders, and classic mouldings,
dentils, and the egg and tongue were frequently used. The ceilings
were often panelled and moulded, inclining in this respect more to
the Gothic than classic. A bizarre kind of Renaissance architectural
feature was prevalent in Holland and in some parts of Germany,
which seems to have been the model for much of the “bolt and lock”
style of some Elizabethan gateways. The architect Dietterlin, of
Strassburg (1550-1599), was an extraordinary exponent of this
twisted and bolted form of fantastic architecture, which had become
only too fashionable at this period. The illustration (Fig. 441) shows
an example of what might be called a mild specimen of the style of
Dietterlin. The popularity of the Dietterlin craze was owing to the
circulation of several volumes he had published of his impossible
designs, some of which designs were evidently adapted by the
Elizabethan architects, but in a much more reticent spirit.

Fig. 439.—Doorway, Crewe Hall. Inigo Jones.

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