Living near opencast coal mining sites and children's respiratory health
Tanja Pless-Mullolia, Denise Howela b, Andrew Kingc, Ian Stoned, John Merefieldd, Jan Besselle, Ross Darnellb
a Department
of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Newcastle upon Tyne,
UK, b Department of Statistics, c IMC
Technical Services, Bretby Business Park, Burton on Trent, UK, d Earth Resources Centre, University of
Exeter, now Advance Environmental, Wolfson Laboratory, University of
Exeter, Exeter, UK, e Dickinson Dees, St Ann's Wharf, Newcastle upon
Tyne, UK
Correspondence to: Dr Tanja Pless-Mulloli, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, The Medical School, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK email Tanja.Pless-Mulloli{at}ncl.ac.uk
Accepted 15 October
1999
OBJECTIVES
To
answer the question whether living near opencast coal mining
sites affects acute and chronic respiratory health.
METHODSAll
4860 children aged 1-11 from five socioeconomically matched pairs of
communities close to active opencast sites and control sites away from
them were selected. Exposure was assessed by concentrations of
particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <10 µm
(PM10), residential proximity to active opencast sites, and
particle composition. PM10 was monitored and sampled for 6 weeks in four pairs, and for 24 weeks in one pair. A postal
questionnaire collected data on health and lifestyle. Daily health
information was collected by a symptom diary (concurrently with
PM10 monitoring) and general practitioner (GP) records were
abstracted (concurrently with PM10 monitoring and 52 weeks
before the study). Outcomes were the cumulative and period prevalence
(2 and 12 months) of wheeze, asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory
symptoms, and the prevalence and incidence of daily symptoms and GP consultations.
RESULTSPatterns
of the daily variation of PM10 were similar in opencast and
control communities, but PM10 was higher in opencast areas
(mean ratio 1.14, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.13 to 1.16, geometric mean 17.0 µg/m3 v
14.9 µg/m3). Opencast sites were a measurable contributor
to PM10 in adjacent areas. Little evidence was found for
associations between living near an opencast site and an increased
prevalence of respiratory illnesses, asthma severity, or daily diary
symptoms, but children in opencast communities 1-4 had significantly
more respiratory consultations (1.5 v 1.1 per person-year) than children in control communities for the 6 week
study periods. Associations between daily PM10
concentrations and acute health events were similar in opencast and
control communities.
CONCLUSIONSChildren
in opencast communities were exposed to a small but significant amount
of additional PM10 to which the opencast sites were a
measurable contributor. Past and present respiratory health of children
was similar, but GP consultations for respiratory conditions were
higher in opencast communities during the core study period.
Keywords: opencast coal mining; respiratory health; PM10
© 2000 by Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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