The closure of a coal processing plant in western Pennsylvania nearly a decade ago has been linked to a dramatic drop in emergency room visits among children with asthma, new research on the health impacts of poor air quality shows.
The former Shenango Coke Works in Avalon, about 10 miles north of Pittsburgh on an island along the Ohio River, closed in 2016 after years of local advocacy to address pollution from the plant. The facility operated for more than five decades producing coke, a concentrated form of coal used in steel manufacturing. Such plants are known for releasing high levels of harsh chemical compounds including benzene, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter.
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"It's like coal-fired power plant particles, but on steroids," George Thurston, a professor at New York University's School of Medicine, told Inside Climate News.
Thurston is part of a research group, along with colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Health Department, that have studied respiratory visits to emergency rooms in the areas near Shenango Coke Works since its closure. The group'sfindingswere published recently in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Three years after the facility shut down, pediatric asthma visits to emergency departments were down 41.2% when compared to where they were three years before its closure, the researchers found. Among the general population, there was a 20.5% drop in weekly respiratory visits. The study also found long-term declines in hospital visits for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is caused by inflammation in the lungs.
"Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that reducing fossil-fuel-related air pollution emissions produces especially large public health benefits, both in the short and longer term," the researchers said.
The study described plant closures as "natural experiments" that can offer more conclusive results than studies that rely on ambient air pollution with varying source of toxic compounds. The authors noted that coke plants produce especially potent emissions that cause inflammatory responses in the lungs.
The researchers compared the benefits of the closure of a coal processing facility to the impact of a person quitting smoking.
"The immediate respiratory health benefits observed are consistent with the significant large reduction of airway irritants, and longer-term reductions may represent lung repair following the closure," the authors wrote in the study. "These lung health benefits from reduced fossil fuel air pollution appear remarkably consistent with the lung function and airway inflammation benefits experienced by smokers with asthma after they quit smoking."
The Pittsburgh region's industrial history as a bastion of steel production has made the area a focus of public health research on air pollution and respiratory conditions. Past research found that Pittsburgh-area children who lived near steel mills, power plants and other large sources of pollution had almost triple the national rate of childhood asthma, and that efforts to prevent and manage these health problems have been inadequate given their prevalence.
Childhood asthma rates have stabilized around 8-9% in the United States — about 6 million kids, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — since the turn of the century. More recent declines are potentially linked to changes in data collection methods. Along with genetic factors, air pollution remains strongly linked to the development of the disease and more severe symptoms.
About a dozen coal-burning plants in Pennsylvania have closed since 2010, leaving just three remaining. Two of them in the Pittsburgh area are expected to close by 2028, and the third, in central Pennsylvania, has converted almost entirely to natural gas.
Despite a nationwide trend of transitioning away from coal-fired plants, President Donald Trump signed executive orders in April to boost U.S. coal production and halt some closures by upgrading facilities with technology that reduces harmful emissions. In Kentucky, one study found these changes led to lower asthma rates and emergency room visits for respiratory problems.
Researchers at Penn State University published a study last year that analyzed strategies to transition away from coal-fired plants while continuing to meet rising electricity demands. The study found that balancing environmental, public health and economic goals can lead to a decline in preventable deaths due to long-term exposure.