This short course will sort out the facts and fallacies that have been interwoven in this sensitive issue. We will explore questions such as: Are there confirmed cases of health problems? Under what conditions would coal present a threat to human health? What properties of coal are most dangerous? What can the coal science community do about it?

Limit: 25 participants.


8:30 Welcome, Introductions, Course Summary
(Finkelman, Bunnell) 45 minutes

8:45 Health Impacts of Coal: Facts and Fallacies
(Finkelman) 1 hour

9:45 Break

10:00 Health Impacts of Residential Coal Use in China
(Finkelman) 1 hour

11:00 Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN)
(Bunnell) 45 minutes

11:45 Summary and Questions
(Finkelman, Bunnell) 15 minutes

Synopsis of Lectures:

Health Impacts of Coal: Facts and Fallacies -- This lecture will provide an overview of the issue. We will discuss situations in which health problems have been confirmed and where the health impacts of coal have been distorted. We will briefly review the current situation with regard to mercury in coal.

Health Impacts of Residential Coal Use in China -- We will discuss arsenism and fluorosis in China.

Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN) -- A summary of the relationship between BEN and the leaching of organic compounds from lignites.

Instructor: Robert B. Finkelman, +1 (703) 648-6412; rbf@usgs.gov

Bob Finkelman has worked for the USGS for 30 years interrupted by 7 years as a staff scientist with Exxon Corporation. For the past 25 years he has been involved with various coal quality issues. During the last 10 years he has focused attention on the health impacts of geologic materials including coal. He has conducted research on Balkan endemic nephropathy in Yugoslavia and Romania. He has worked extensively in China on arsenism and fluorosis caused by residential coal combustion.

Instructor: Joseph E. Bunnell, +1 (703) 648-6497; jbunnell@usgs.gov

Joe Bunnell has worked as a public health research biologist for the Energy Resources Team at USGS since earning his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University Medical Institutions in 1999. He has conducted research on BEN in Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria, a possible similar situation in the USA, and is investigating respiratory health effects of coal combustion in the Navajo Nation.