Adding up the Public Health Costs of Using Coal to Make Steel - Inside Climate News A new report found connections between the American steel industry’s few remaining coal-based facilities and increased rates of asthma, cancer and premature deaths. Derek Harrison Inside Climate News

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A new report aims to quantify the costs and damage to public health that steelmaking that still relies on coal causes—not just in one Pennsylvania neighborhood, but across the country. 

The report found that cancer rates related to air pollution are 12 percent higher near these steel plants than national rates and 26 percent higher for residents living near coke plants. Researchers used modeling to link increased cases of asthma symptoms to the toxic byproducts, like sulfur dioxide and lead, emitted from coal-based steelmaking plants. 

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