According to Fox News, burning coal indoors may lead to birth defects. Chinese researchers Zhiwen Li and colleagues at the Peking University Health Science Center found that the odds of having birth defects such as neural tube defects are 60 percent higher for children whose mothers inhaled coal smoke than for the children of unexposed mothers.
A World Health Organization report estimated that 90 percent of rural homes use coal for cooking and heating. While coal is inexpensive compared to other energy sources, it has been linked to various illnesses including lung cancer and respiratory diseases. The researchers said that indoor air pollution caused by coal burning at home is a major public health concern.
Coal smoke contains chemicals known to cause health problems, including arsenic, carbon monoxide and lead. The Chinese researchers focused on rural counties that rely on use of coal for cooking and heating and where the rate of 10 to 20 cases of neural tube defects for every 1,000 births represents one of the highest in the world. The U.S. rate of neural tube defects, including spina bifida and other brain injury, is about 1 in 1,000 births. The research found that overall 90 percent of infants with neural tube defects lived in a house that used coal for cooking, compared to just over 80 percent of infants without the defect.
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