IS THERE A LINK BETWEEN LIGNITE BEDS AND DIALYSIS BEDS?

Several reports have indicated that drinking water that has been in contact with low-rank coals may lead to kidney disease and/or renal pelvic cancer. This health syndrome, known as Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN), may have caused the deaths of as many as 100,000 people in Yugoslavia during a 30-year period starting in the 1950s. The association of immature coals (lignites) and drinking water aquifers may present a serious health hazard for people in other parts of the world including the Gulf Coast Region of the U.S. The northeastern region of Texas contains sizeable deposits of lignites associated with fresh water aquifers. Organic compounds from these lignites can readily leach into the groundwater which supplies drinking water to more than 3.5 million people. We have previously shown that water from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in east Texas contains a wide range of organic compounds that could have been derived from leaching of the stratigraphically-associated lignites. We have now determined that there is a positive statistical correlation between the proportion of people using Carrizo-Wilcox water and the number of beds in dialysis clinics in east Texas counties. While not conclusive, this relationship is another indication that the organic compounds in the Carrizo-Wilcox waters may be a contributing factor for kidney disease in the region.