Children born after Chinese coal plant was closed have less developmental problems
July 20, 2008 · Print This Article
Children born after a coal-burning plant was closed in a city in China had 60 percent fewer developmental problems than those born before the closure, according to a report published in Environmental Health Perspectives that week.
After a coal-burning plant in the city of Tongliang was shut down, pregnant mothers living in the area had less exposure to pollutants and their children had 60% less developmental problems, such as motor skill delays. In addition, the children born after the plant was closed had 40% lower levels of polycyclic
Peter D. Sly, head of the WHO’s Collaborating Center for Research on Children’s Environmental Health, was cautious about the results of that study however. Sly said that the results do not have implications for the more contemporary, coal-fired ability plants in China. Apparently, the Tongliang coal plant did not have pollution control equipment to limit the emission of pollutants like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter.
[Source] Patricia Mayville-Cox
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This short article way overstates what the study found. Check out the August 2008 issue of Scientific American for more details. The differences in children were tiny, here is a quote from the article:
“Though statistically significant, the differences between Tongliang
children born in 2002, when the power plant was still open, and those
born in 2005, after it had closed, are small: a few millimeters in
head circumference and height, an ounce of body weight, a point or two
on a developmental test. According to Perara (the author of the
study), the results suggest that the 2002 children will be slightly
more likely to be slower learners and to need extra help at school and
will develop fine-motor skills later on average than their
counterparts born in 2005.”