Doc Blog – Family Doctors, Health, and Coal Mining

News and Events, Resource Centre

August 19, 2025

By Drs. Norm Campbell, Finola Hackett, and Tally Mogus

Alberta has a long history of coal mining. With increasing global health and environmental concerns, much of the world is phasing out coal mining. Although over three quarters of Albertans have expressed strong concerns about coal mining and are against new coal mining, the Alberta Government and energy regulator have continued to approve new coal mining and exploration. Should family doctors be concerned?

Those family doctors who practise in districts where coal mining is active are likely to experience an increase in diagnosing and treating multiple health issues. Regions which have active coal mining have lower quality of life, with increases in death and disability rates from cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, congenital diseases, and chromosomal diseases likely related to toxic mining contaminants, in the water, air, and soil. Some of these contaminants are carried long distances in water and airborne pollutants. Those living closer, downwind, or down water from these mines are more likely to present with symptoms related to mining contaminants, and children, the elderly, and those with chronic diseases are more susceptible to the adverse health impacts of coal mining.

One of the common coal mining contaminants is selenium, which increases in watersheds of coal mining regions and can cause diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, muscle aches, and hair and nail damage. People taking vitamin and mineral supplements containing selenium are at greater risk of selenium toxicity. Recent reports find high selenium levels in the Crowsnest river system decades after prior coal mine closures demonstrating long-term health risks as a legacy of past coal mining.

Work-related injuries and deaths in coal mining are common and amongst the highest of any industry, and hence there is a need for enhanced emergency and trauma care. Substance use disorders occur at higher rates in people who work in coal mines. This can cause issues with all the sequelae of alcohol and drug use including increased risk of traumatic injury, liver failure, skin and soft tissue infections, pneumonia, risk of opioid poisoning, and death.

There are also many adverse psychological effects of coal mining, likely due to the impact of the mines on the Alberta landscapes, pollution, injuries, deaths, and increased alcohol and drug use in the community. Permanent and temporary mine closures due to a volatile and diminishing coal market also cause personal and community stress, as would an unpredictable mine disaster (e.g. the Frank slide, which destroyed the town of Frank in the Crowsnest pass in 1903; extensive flooding which could overwhelm the planned tailings pond; or mine tunnel collapse).

Lastly, there is the impact of the burning of coal on climate change and air pollution. Climate change has been linked to severe flooding, wildfires, drought, tornados, extreme temperatures, and other severe weather events. Alberta has already suffered many of these extreme events and as we write, Swan Hill has been evacuated due to a wildfire as have several communities in Saskatchewan. Family doctors and ER physicians already see the direct health effects of wildfire smoke in their clinics and hospitals with increase in asthma exacerbations, MI, and COPD exacerbations during times of high air pollution.

Burning of coal, regardless if it is to create electricity, heat, or make steel, directly contributes to greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Currently, climate change is viewed as the greatest long-term threat to all life forms on earth. Burning coal is also the dirtiest form of energy creating small particle pollution. According to the Global Burden of Disease study, small particle air pollution is indicated to be the second leading global risk for death, contributing to eight million deaths in 2021.

The adverse health impacts of coal mining and its burning affects the health of communities and people living close by, those downwind and downstream, as well as the global population. Family doctors in communities need to be increasingly alert to coal mining health issues in their patients and communities. Ensure your community is aware of the health risks and be more vigilant for the potential diseases (e.g., black lung disease, selenium toxicity, trauma, mental health concerns) in your patient population.

If you, your clinic, your staff, or your patients want to help, visit this link to learn more about policy statements currently seeking signatories, one to ban coal mining and exploration in Alberta, and one to encourage the expansion of green energy.

This blog post is based on an Alberta Medical Association submission to the Alberta Coal Committee in August 31, 2021. That submission, in turn, was based largely on governmental studies in jurisdictions where they have some of the strictest coal mining regulations. Various specific contaminants from coal mining have well defined human and animal toxicities but nearly all the human-related diseases in communities discussed above are based on observational research in epidemiological studies where cause and effect cannot be proven. Due to known toxicities of oil and gas pollutants, cause and effect studies cannot be undertaken for ethical reasons. In these settings, public safety is the primary concern; however, safety has been largely overlooked and important health outcomes in proximity to oil and gas wells have not been closely and carefully monitored and evaluated with public disclosure.