23 Jul NYU Study: Sharp Drop in Asthma ER Visits After Coal-Coke Plant Shuts Down
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Prof. Thurston
Dr. George D. Thurston
Professor of Medicine and Population Health
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Division of Environmental Medicine
NYC, NY 10010 USA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What were some of the chemicals released by the coal-coking plant?
Response: Pittsburgh has a long history as the nation’s principal source of bituminous coal production and home to iron and coke industries since the late 19th century, and is also known as one of the cities with the highest levels of air pollution and most air-pollution related deaths in the US, to date. The Shenango, Inc Coke Plant was one of the significant industrial emission sources in the area before its closure in January 2016.
Coal-coking plants like the Shenango plant utilizes a destructive heated distillation process called pyrolysis to volatilize and drive the impurities out of coal and produce coke, a purer product with higher carbon content for use in iron and steel production. From this process, coke plant operations are known to generate high emissions of complex air pollution mixtures into the ambient air, including particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), polycyclic organic matter (POMs), volatile compounds (VOCs), and volatilized trace metals such as arsenic, nickel, selenium, lead, and cobalt.
Our study examines the changes in respiratory health in the community residing near the Shenango Coke Plant before vs. after its closure, providing a direct quantification of the health benefits of such fossil-fuel-related air pollution reductions.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: We found the closure of the Shenango plant was associated with an immediate 20% decrease in weekly emergency department visits related to respiratory issues, occurring right after the shutdown happened. There was also an immediate over 40% decrease in pediatric asthma emergency department visits, followed by an additional 4% per month longer-term downward trend compared to expected in the following years. We also saw similar longer-term cumulative reductions, as compared to pre-closure trends, for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospitalizations.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: Not all air pollution particles are created equal, and some are more toxic than others. The physical and chemical characteristics of particles emitted from fossil-fuel industrial emission sources like coke plants and coal power plants are especially potent in eliciting adverse health responses, as compared with other types of more
Citation: Yu W, Thurston GD. Reductions in Respiratory Hospital Visits after a Coal Coking Plant Closure: A Natural Experiment. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2025 Jul 21. doi: 10.1164/rccm.202410-2005OC. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40691837.
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Last Updated on July 23, 2025 by Marie Benz MD FAAD
