Michael Hendryx: How Is Health In Mining Communities Affected By Mountaintop Removal?

Part 3 of the TED Radio Hour episode Accessing Better Health.

About Michael Hendryx's TED Talk

For over a decade, Michael Hendryx's research has shown mountaintop removal is connected to cancer and other diseases in nearby towns. He says awareness is key for changing policy around the practice.

About Michael Hendryx

Michael Hendryx is a professor in the Department of Environmental Health at Indiana University Bloomington's School of Public Health.

In 2006, he began a research program focused on public health disparities for people in Appalachia who live in areas close to coal mining, and studying the effect that mountaintop removal had on them. The research shows that people in these areas have an increased risk for many illnesses including cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, birth defects, cancer and more. Hendryx published over 130 peer-reviewed studies and his research was cited in the Obama administration's policy to stop a company participating in mountaintop removal. [Copyright 2019 NPR]