Runoff from coal piles: effects on the environment and the public's health
The use of coal for fuel in place of oil and natural gas has been increasing in the US. Typically, users store their reserves of coal outdoors in large piles and rainfall on the coal creates runoffs which may contain materials hazardous to the environment and the public's health. To study this hazard, rainfall on model coal piles was simulated, using deionized water and four coals of varying sulfur content. The simulated surface runoffs were collected during 9 rainfall simulations spaced 15 days apart. The runoffs were analyzed. The runoffs from the high-sulfur coals and the lignite exhibited extremes of pH (acidity), specific conductance, chemical oxygen demand, and total suspended solids; the low-sulfur coal runoffs did not exhibit these extremes. Without treatment, effluents from these high-sulfur coals and lignite would not comply with federal water quality guidelines. Most extracts of the simulated surface runoffs contained at least 10 organic compounds including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. All extracts were clastogenic. Extracts of runoffs from the high-sulfur coals were both clastogenic and cytotoxic; those from the low-sulfur coal and the lignite were less clastogenic and not cytotoxic. These data suggest a relationship between the sulfur content of a coal, its mutagenicity and also its clastogenicity.
- OSTI ID:
- 5911451
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
COAL
RUNOFF
WATER POLLUTION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
MUTAGENESIS
PH VALUE
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
SIMULATION
WATER QUALITY
AROMATICS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDROCARBONS
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POLLUTION
010900* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Environmental Aspects
560305 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Vertebrates- (-1987)
520200 - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)