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Coal Pollution and India’s Crippled Children
There has been a dramatic rise in the number of Indian children being born with crippling birth defects as a result of massive levels of uranium pollution from coal-fired power stations. For some their heads are too large or too small or their brains haven’t developed properly most will live sub-standard lives and will die young. As well as emitting toxic pollution coal-fired power stations pump out vast quantities of carbon dioxide leading to climate change which has widespread implications to Our Future Planet. Clearly, there is a need to use cleaner alternative sources of energy such as wind, solar, wave and other renewables.
These crippled children in India are suffering a multitude of birth defects from heads that are too large or too small to limbs that are short and bent. Some have stunted brains, no speech and are expected to die young. Some children sit staring into space, others cry out, rocking backwards and forwards. There are high incidences of children being born with hydrocephaly, microcephaly, cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome and other complications.
India has been hiding these crippled children, the victims of pollution, from the world and only now can the world see the full extent of this pollution horror.
Health workers from the Punjabi cities of Bathinda and Faridkot knew something was wrong when they saw a sharp increase in the number of birth defects, physical and mental abnormalities, and cancers among children. They suspected that children were being slowly poisoned. When a visiting scientist from South Africa arranged for tests to be carried it was found that the children had massive levels of uranium in their bodies, in one case more than 60 times the maximum safe limit.
If a few hundred children – spread over a large area – were contaminated, how many thousands more might also be affected throughout India? The Indian authorities were determined that this matter was hushed up. Clinics were visited and threatened with closure if staff spoke out.
A report in Scientific American has found that fly ash emitted by coal power plants produces 100 times more radiation than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy. When coal is burned into fly ash, uranium and thorium are concentrated at up to 10 times their original levels. Subsequently, there is an increased radiation hazard to people living near coal-fired thermal power stations.
Test results for children born and living in areas around India’s power stations showed high levels of uranium in their bodies. Tests on the ground water showed uranium levels as high as 224mcg/l (micrograms per litre) – 15 times higher than the safe level of 15mcg/l recommended by the World Health Organisation. Further tests show that uranium pollution extends across large parts of the state, which is home to 24 million people.
Ground water tests in villages in the Bathinda district found the highest average concentration of uranium – 56.95mcg/l – in the town of Bucho Mandi, a short distance from the Lehra Mohabat ash pond. Such a concentration of uranium means the lifetime cancer risk in the village was more than 153 times higher than in the normal population. People living there said they used the ash to spread on the roads and even on the floors of their homes.
These findings have worldwide implications. Punjab is a key centre for agriculture producing two-thirds of India’s wheat and 40% of its rice without fit and able people these crops cannot be grown. Rice from this region is distributed around the world and is important for the Indian economy. Will people want to buy and eat rice from contaminated regions?
The problems of pollution from coal fired power stations and birth defects are global. Children of parents living in the eight main coal zones in China have been born with birth defects such as cleft pallet, neural tube defects and congenital heart disease. Birth defects have increased by 40% from 2001 to 2006 as coal fired power stations have increased to supply more than two thirds of China’s energy. Columbia University Centre for Children’s Environmental Health showed that pollution from coal fired power stations caused birth defects in China.
In America there are high levels of birth defects of children born to parents living near to coal fired power plants. As well as pollution from uranium people are contaminated by mercury which causes birth defects such as stunted brain and body growth. One notorious power plant is the Paradise Coal-fired Power Plant in Kentucky, which is the largest source of air pollution in USA emitting thousands of tonnes of air pollutants each year. As well as causing birth defects the pollutants cause asthma, bronchitis, heart attacks and mental retardation to people living in this region.
There are worrying concerns for children in other countries planning to build new coal-fired power plants, including China, Russia, India, Germany and the US. In Britain, there are plans for a coal-fired station at the Kingsnorth facility in Kent.
As well as causing birth defects, serious health problems and even death coal fired power stations contribute to enhanced global warming and climate change. Coal fired power stations account for 40% of global emissions of carbon dioxide. Increased carbon dioxide levels lead to climate change which is considered to be the greatest environmental threats to the world and its citizens. The magnitude of the effects of a heating planet cannot be under-estimated. August 2003 was the hottest month recorded in Europe, over 14 000 people died in France alone as a result of heat exhaustion. The economic costs to Europe exceeded £8 billion.
Nations such as India and China need to develop and use alternative sources of energy such as solar, wind and wave power in order to prevent any more birth defects and pollutant related illnesses in adults. As well as improving citizens health using renewables reduces carbon emissions and this is important for reducing the global carbon impact of developing nations. As sensible citizens of Our Future Planet we need to encourage all governments throughout the world to develop clean and renewable sources of energy to replace coal for the sake of our health and wellbeing. What are your thoughts?
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