Physicians say coal waging assault on human health

A new report from Physicians for Social Responsibility says pollutants from coal affect all the body's major organ systems and contribute to four of the five leading causes of mortality in the U.S. The report, titled "Coal's Assault on Human Health," warns, "Each step of the coal lifecycle - mining, transportation, washing, combustion, and disposing of postcombustion wastes - impacts human health."

Physicians for Social Responsibility is a Nobel Prize-winning organization that bills itself as "the medical and public health voice for policies to prevent nuclear war and proliferation and to slow, stop and reverse global warming," Environmental News Service reports. Dr. Alan Lockwood, a professor of neurology and nuclear medicine at the University of Buffalo and the report's chief author, estimates that exposure to emissions from coal combustion is killing 40,000 to 50,000 Americans per year. The report says coal pollutants contribute to heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory diseases. (Read more)