Iron-Bearing Particles in Coal Fly Ash: Unrecognized Risk Factor for Gastrointestinal Disease and Cancers

Abstract

We provide evidence that coal fly ash, the globally abundant waste product of coal burning, including its undisclosed use in geoengineering aerosol operations, is an unrecognized risk factor for the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and certain gastrointestinal (GI) cancers.  We review world-wide interdisciplinary scientific, medical, and public health literature focusing on the key role of ultrafine air pollution from combustion sources including coal burning in the development of IBD like Crohn’s disease and GI cancers like colorectal cancer (CRC). Extensive and expanding evidence indicates that ultrafine air pollution particles from combustion sources, especially reactive iron-bearing particles like those found in coal fly ash, contribute to disease in the human gut by various means including inflammation, altered gut biome, redox reactions favoring oxidation, and genotoxicity. We show that the exogenous particles in gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) match those in coal fly ash. We present new data showing the relationship between certain toxic volatile elements in coal fly ash aerosols to those in wildfire smoke with an associated threat to human and gastrointestinal health. Steps must be taken to both monitor and limit ultrafine air pollution from combustion sources to combat a growing public health emergency that includes increasingly frequent and severe gastrointestinal disease in young people. These steps must include recognizing and halting intentionally undisclosed geoengineering operations that utilize aerosolized coal fly ash.