Tennessee Coal Accident - How Toxic Is Coal Fly Ash? - Popular Mechanics
source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/worst_case_scenarios/4297384.html
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Coal fly ash is nasty stuff. According an Environmental Protection Agency report, coal plants produce 160 pounds of fly ash for ever ton of coal that they burn. This ash contains traces of heavy metals like arsenic and uranium, and other toxic chemicals, like mercury. The mean mercury level, according to the EPA is 0.33 parts per million, more than the other remnants of coal burning such as bottom ash or boiler slag. At 0.33 parts per million, a billion-gallon ash spill would contain 330 gallons of mercury. However, because the plants mix the ash with water and make it into a sludgy paste before sending it to storage ponds, that number would be smaller.
Mercury exposure is especially dangerous for developing babies, who are susceptible to neurological damage if their mothers have a buildup of mercury in their bloodstream, most often caused by eating seafood with elevated mercury levels. Though these small amounts of mercury exposure are less dangerous for adults, continued exposure to mercury can lead to health problems such as chronic tremors, and a variety of mood disorders. Besides the mercury, however, trace amounts of arsenic, uranium, nickel, cadmium and toxic chemicals makes this a nasty substance to get in the waterways—one that is difficult to test for and remove.
Mercury exposure is especially dangerous for developing babies, who are susceptible to neurological damage if their mothers have a buildup of mercury in their bloodstream, most often caused by eating seafood with elevated mercury levels. Though these small amounts of mercury exposure are less dangerous for adults, continued exposure to mercury can lead to health problems such as chronic tremors, and a variety of mood disorders. Besides the mercury, however, trace amounts of arsenic, uranium, nickel, cadmium and toxic chemicals makes this a nasty substance to get in the waterways—one that is difficult to test for and remove.
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