USGS: Science for a Changing World - USGS visual identity mark and link to main Web site at http://www.usgs.gov/

APPENDICES

Appendix I.

Chart showing the environmental significance of the elements in coal and ash

Arithmetic and geometric means for chemical elements in U.S. coal.

[All values are on a coal basis. Data are exclusively from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) except for estimated values in parentheses, which are based on USGS and literature data. Values in brackets are calculated from cerium and lanthanum data and assuming a chondrite normalized rare-earth-element distribution pattern.n.d., no data; S.D., standard deviation; Max., maximum; Num., number of samples]

Arithmetic
Geometric
Component
Mean
S.D.
Mean
S.D.
Max.
Num.
Ash %
13.1
8.3
10.9
1.9
50.0
7976
Aluminum (Al) %
1.5
1.1
1.1
2.1
10.6
7882
Antimony (Sb) ppm
1.2
1.6
.61
3.6
35
7473
Arsenic (As) ppm
24
60
6.5
5.5
2200
7676
Barium (Ba) ppm
170
350
93
3.0
22000
7836
Beryllium (Be) ppm
2.2
4.1
1.3
3.5
330
7484
Bismuth (Bi) ppm
(<1.0)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
14
920
Boron (B) ppm
49
54
30
3.1
1700
7874
Bromine (Br) ppm
17
19
9.1
4.1
160
4999
Cadmium (Cd) ppm
.47
4.6
.02
18
170
6150
Calcium (Ca) %
.46
1.0
.23
3.3
72
7887
Carbon (C) %
63
15
62
1.3
90
7154
Cerium (Ce) ppm
21
28
5.1
7.1
700
5525
Cesium (Cs) ppm
1.1
1.1
.70
3.2
15
4972
Chlorine (Cl) ppm
614
670
79
41
8800
4171
Chromium (Cr) ppm
15
15
10
2.7
250
7847
Cobalt (Co) ppm
6.1
10
3.7
2.9
500
7800
Copper (Cu) ppm
16
15
12
2.1
280
7911
Dysprosium (Dy) ppm
1.9
2.7
.008
35
28
1510
Erbium (Er) ppm
1.0
1.1
.002
73
11
1792
Europium (Eu) ppm
.40
.33
.12
5.8
4.8
5268
Fluorine (F) ppm
98
160
35
15
4000
7376
Gadolinium (Gd) ppm
(1.8)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
39
2376
Gallium (Ga) ppm
5.7
4.2
4.5
2.1
45
7565
Germanium (Ge) ppm
5.7
14
.59
16
780
5689
Gold (Au) ppm
(<0.05)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
Hafnium (Hf) ppm
.73
.68
.04
38
18
5120
Holmium (Ho) ppm
(0.35)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
4.5
1130
Hydrogen (H) %
5.2
.09
5.2
1.2
9.5
7155
Indium (In) ppm
(<0.3)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
Iodine (I) ppm
(<1.0)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
Iridium (Ir) ppm
(<0.001)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
Iron (Fe) ppm
1.3
1.5
.75
2.9
24
7882
Lanthanum (La) ppm
12
16
3.9
6.0
300
6235
Lead (Pb) ppm
11
37
5.0
3.7
1900
7469
Lithium (Li) ppm
16
20
9.2
3.3
370
7848
Lutetium (Lu) ppm
.14
.10
.06
4.7
1.8
5008
Magnesium (Mg) %
.11
.12
.07
2.7
1.5
7887
Manganese (Mn) ppm
43
84
19
3.9
2500
7796
Mercury (Hg) ppm
.17
.24
.10
3.1
10
7649
Molybdenum (Mo) ppm
3.3
5.6
1.2
6.5
280
7107
Neodymium (Nd) ppm
(9.5)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
230
4749
Nickel (Ni) ppm
14
15
9.0
2.8
340
7900
Niobium (Nb) ppm
2.9
3.1
1.0
7.7
70
6843
Nitrogen (N) %
1.3
0.4
1.3
1.4
13
7153
Osmium (Os) ppm
(<0.001)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
Oxygen (O) %
16
12
12
2.0
60
7151
Palladium (Pd) ppm
(<0.001)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
Phosphorus (P) ppm
430
1500
20
20
58000
5079
Platinum (Pt) ppm
(<0.001)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
Potassium (K) %
.18
.21
.10
3.5
2.0
7830
Praseodymium (Pr) ppm
(2.4)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
65
1533
Rhenium (Re) ppm
(<0.001)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
Rhodium (Rh) ppm
(<0.001)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
Rubidium (Rb) ppm
21
20
.62
41
140
2648
Ruthenium (Ru) ppm
(<0.001)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
Samarium (Sm) ppm
1.7
1.4
.35
13
18
5151
Scandium (Sc) ppm
4.2
4.4
3.0
2.3
100
7803
Selenium (Se) ppm
2.8
3.0
1.8
3.1
150
7563
Silicon (Si) %
2.7
2.4
1.9
2.4
20
7846
Silver (Ag) ppm
(<0.1)
.35
.01
9.1
19
5038
Sodium (Na) %
.08
.12
.04
3.5
1.4
7784
Strontium (Sr) ppm
130
150
90
2.5
2800
7842
Sulfur (S) %
1.8
1.8
1.3
2.4
25
7214
Tantalum (Ta) ppm
.22
.19
.02
13
1.7
4622
Tellurium (Te) ppm
(<0.1)
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
Terbium (Tb) ppm
.30
.23
.09
7.7
3.9
5024
Thallium (Tl) ppm
1.2
3.4
.00004
205
52
1149
Thorium (Th) ppm
3.2
3.0
1.7
5.0
79
6866
Thulium (Tm) ppm
[0.15]
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
1.9
365
Tin (Sn) ppm
1.3
4.3
.001
54
140
3004
Titanium (Ti) %
.08
.07
.06
2.2
.74
7653
Tungsten (W) ppm
1.0
7.6
.10
14
400
4714
Uranium (U) ppm
2.1
16
1.1
3.5
1300
6923
Vanadium (V) ppm
22
20
17
2.2
370
7924
Ytterbium (Yb) ppm
[0.95]
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
20
7522
Yttrium (Y) ppm
8.5
6.7
6.6
2.2
170
7897
Zinc (Zn) ppm
53
440
13
3.4
19000
7908
Zirconium (Zr) ppm
27
32
19
2.4
700
7913

Return to Health Impacts of Coal: Should We Be Concerned?