Green Daily

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 this 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 aromatic hydrocarbons in their cord blood. All of the women in the study were nonsmokers.

Peter D. Sly, head of the WHO's Collaborating Center for Research on Children's Environmental Health, was cautious about the results of this study however. Sly said that the results do not have implications for the more modern, coal-fired power 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.