HEALTH IMPACTS OF UNCONTROLLED COAL FIRES: A PERSPECTIVE FROM JHARIA, INDIA

Uncontrolled coal fires are undesirable phenomena that occur wherever coal is mined or exposed at the surface. The fires can be caused by spontaneous combustion, by accidents, or intentionally. They can occur in surface and underground coal mines as well as in coal waste and storage piles. Thousands of such fires are currently burning in dozens of countries. These fires are known to mobilize potentially toxic elements such as arsenic, selenium, fluorine, and mercury, toxic gases such as toluene, xylene, benzene, and ethylbenzene as well as copious amounts of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The uncontrolled coal fires in the Jharia region of India are notorious, having been burning for more than 100 years. Many publications and news stories have shown villagers, including children, shrouded in smoke from coal fires but there had not been any published articles assessing the health impacts of these fires. An initial assessment indicated that those villagers living within one mile of an active fire were 98% more likely to report a range of health issues than villagers living about five miles from the fire. A December 2019 follow-up visit to the region indicated that many of the uncontrolled fires have been extinguished and many local villagers have been relocated. Nevertheless, many thousands of people still live in close proximity to uncontrolled fires. Samples of condensates from several coal fires, some adjacent to a village, were collected and characterized. Preliminary SEM/EDX and XRD analyses indicate that huge amounts of fluorine are being emitted from the coal fires indicated by the widespread and abundant cryptohalite and bararite [both (NH₄)₂SiF₆)] as well as several other fluorine-bearing phases. Other minerals identified were mascagnite [(NH₄)₂SO₄)], and sal ammoniac (NH₄Cl). Other condensate phases contained major I, S, and Cl some with trace Se, Pb, Hg, Sn, and Br. Further assessment of the health impacts of these uncontrolled fire emissions should be conducted.