Coal Power Station Installations And The Health Of Populations: A Review Of Evidence And State Of The Art In Italy

The link that exists between single pollutants and adverse reactions to health has been depicted as a pyramid. At i ts base are the most common consequences of exposure (increase in prevalence and incidence of respiratory diseases/symptoms and reduction in pulmonary function) and at the top is mortality. Although this link is well documented in literature, it is important to note that the human response to pollution occurs along a spectrum and, therefore, assessment of the impact on the population is much more complex than the individual assessment of each case. Damage to health associated with emissions from coal power stations can vary greatly from one location to another depending on the size of the plant, location and the characteristics of the population, although the varying degree of different factors that contribute to the general picture has not been assessed sufficiently, formally or in detail. Nevertheless, the review presented here leads to the conclusion that the population studies conducted by independent groups in different locations around the world have not been able to successfully demonstrate the direct effects in terms of the morbidity and mortality that can be unequivocally be attributed to the presence of active power stations. However, evidence on the role of micropollutants from power station activities suggest that a complete and thorough analysis should be made on the environmental cycle where there are active stations. This analysis should aim at identifying the factors that link their spreading into the environment to man’s actual exposure to pollution through the various possible pathways. Although it can be reasonably considered that the group of phenomena that contribute to this cycle decrease progressively, starting with the emissions falling back to the ground and man’s exposure to various pollutants. Therefore their danger, should in any case, be assessed as carefully as possible while assuming, at most, that all micropollutants may come into direct contact with man and be ingested through the various potential pathways throughout their entire lifetime, regardless of the factors that reduce their presence.