An evaluation of the toxicological aspects and potential doses from the inhalation of coal combustion products

Abstract

This paper reviews toxicological literature pertaining to coal combustion products (CCPs) inhalation and presents case studies on the inhalation of CCPs from the Kingston Fossil Plant area and from the Colbert Fossil Plant CCP landfill site. While most research regarding coal plant emissions focuses on fly ash, this article takes a holistic approach to examining not only emitted particulate matter such as fly ash, but also the theoretical calculated doses of landfilled CCPs. Furthermore, these doses are compared to in vitro and in vivo studies in order to highlight differences between laboratory-based studies and to emphasize the difficulty in extrapolating effects from inhalation exposures. In both case studies, fugitive emissions from the Kingston ash spill or the Colbert CCP-handling operations did not exceed any national ambient air quality standards or reference concentrations for individual components. Adverse effects such as mild pulmonary inflammation noted in the reviewed literature were in response to doses much higher than would be likely to occur in humans exposed to landfilled CCPs. We conclude that the doses for fugitive emissions calculated herein do not appear to be high enough to elicit a measurable adverse response in humans. This paper is the first study to assess the potential exposure of inhaled coal combustion products (CCPs). Two case studies, the Kingston and Colbert fossil plant sites, are used to calculate theoretical exposures due to CCPs. Additionally, human exposure results are compared to published toxicological in vitro and in vivo data, which highlights the difficulty in extrapolating these studies to humans. © 2013 Copyright 2013 A&WMA.