Burning coal "stunts growth" and causes mental deficiency

So there I was driving in to work and listening to the radio when I heard an interview Dr. Mike Roizen (nationally syndicated medical talk show host). Among today's topics was a study of children who grew up in homes where coal was burned as the primary heating or cooking source. These children, on average, were both shorter in stature than their control group peers and suffered higher rates of learning disabilities. This was, of course, in addition to long known respiratory problems. The reasons cited were believed to the particulate emissions and the toxins conveyed in them as well as the organic volatile compounds.

Intrigued, I looked into this a bit. Not exhaustively, just a bit. The study, I believe, was European and focused on childhood development in homes where solid fuels were used for either cooking or heating. Both wood and coal were examined. The results mentioned were most related to coal. The relational results for wood were less clear as the the majority of the wood users did not rely on wood as the bulk of their heating needs. Rather, wood users tended to use wood to supplement other fuel sources. Coal users, on the other hand, tended to use coal as the primary heat source.

My immediate conclusion was that, even in Europe, burning wood is a hassle as evidenced by the fact that most users of wood relied on an alternate primary source.

Beyond that, I am definitely awaiting an opportunity to more fully examine the study. What kind of coal is being burned? Where in the home is it being used? In what kind of equipment is it being used? What is the overall living situation? While I have not had an opportunity to review the statistical power and methods of the study, it's definitely something which will be revisited.

There's another thread about this topic started under the title Should I put my stoves out? Member Rewinder has a link to the article in the first post.

Enjoy!

This one of those studies that need more study. More study, more money.
Europe is searching for excuses as to why it is screwed up. Did Einstein have coal
heat ? We should study that. Maybe short people flock the the mining areas, because
they are short.

Plus, don't they burn more bit and sub-bit coals on the other side of the pond? More VOC in those coals than anthracite. Must have leaky stoves and bad-ash practices too. If properly hooked up and vented, a well designed appliance shouldn't leak.

There needs to be some serious normalizing of the information they're drawing these conclusions from . I'm wondering if this sturdy was peer-reviewed before releasing it. There's a lot of shoddy stuff being rushed our. Remember NASA's claim that they found a new form of bacteria in Yellowstone that was based on arsenic instead of phosphorous and nitrogen?

After all these years I been calling my dad a Mental Migit and its true. He tells me stories how grandpaw and him would stoke the coal stove and I still can remember the old Glenwood we had when I was a kid in the old house. The only problem is gramps was 6'2" dads 6'4" and I'm only 5'2" go figure

Yes, burning coal contributes to great mental weakness. Let's see in the 19th Century all of these stupefied people were exposed to coal smoke everyday of their entire lives. Idiots like Westinghouse, Edison, Tesla, Marconi, the Wright Brothers, Henry Ford, Louie Pasture, Charles Dickens, Graham Bell, Charles Stevenson, Goodyear and Frank Loyd Wright and many other such morons who would just stare into space while drooling on themselves. Just think if they didn't have all of that terrible coal burning around them, then they would have escaped this terrible fate.

Response to the study: OH PLEASE

I'd weigh in on this but first il'l do a study...

I am a toxicologist and clinician by training with 30 years experience in R&D working for some of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. So let me tell you about toxins and /or approval of prescription drugs for sale. Of course this and similar studies study are all rubbish. This is the descending order of statistical power of clin/tox studies as far as HHS/FDA is concerned:

1. The subject is its own control, i.e. growth rates ( a non-constant anyway) would have to be measured. Then you take away the coal fire and remeasure and then add them back in and again measure lower growth rates. Stating you have coal and are 7' tall is no more a measure than saying you are 5' and had a coal fire as these parameters have no statistical power. That is genetics. How the hell do you get enough of these subjects to measure anything anyway.

2. Placebo controls: Two group are selected with similar genetics and randomly selected to be coal burners or placebo groups. The placebo group must be a non-active group so really say oil heat (with many toxins) will not do. Ideally there should be no heat at all. Again good luck in finding the placebo group that has not frozen to death.

3. Historical data. This is where in the case of the FDA approvals you quote data like, 5 % of aspirin patients have ulcers but in the case of my drug only 3% have ulcers therefore you should approve my drug as it is better than aspirin. This is an uncontrolled study and that FDA has never approved anything based on this type of data with one exception Cheerios reduce cholesterol. Trust me money changed hands on that one.

In order for any study to have statistical power you need thousands of patients and perhaps millions. This depends on the data being analyzed. That observation is true across all scientific disciplines.

Like Obummer and the Bernanke - there is no fool greater than an educated fool.

Oh well, back to my coal fire and beer recipes for the upcoming year. Since my retirement I have gotten smarter.

I have contacted Dr. Mike Roizens wife and suggested she sign a DNR contract. That is in case he gets sick Do Not Resuscitate. these stupid statements do a lot of harm not only to the coal industry but to people wondering how the hell to keep warm with HO going through the roof. He is not at benign a liar as you suspect.

Now i'm sure coal is to blame for my mid life waist size change.