{"id":44114,"date":"2015-06-08T21:07:56","date_gmt":"2015-06-09T01:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=44114"},"modified":"2015-06-08T21:07:56","modified_gmt":"2015-06-09T01:07:56","slug":"significant-public-health-risk-fracking-data-mounts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/significant-public-health-risk-fracking-data-mounts\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cSignificant Public Health Risk\u201d Of Fracking: The Data Mounts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cElevation in Cancer is Certain to Happen\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The shale \u2018boom\u2019 in the United States since the mid-2000s has resulted in unprecedented growth for the oil and gas industry. This is largely the result of the\u00a0technology known as \u2018fracking\u2019 — hydraulic fracturing.<\/p>\n

The process involves drilling thousands of feet below the Earth\u2019s surface, then using explosives and hundreds of chemicals to blast apart age-old rock formations causing the release of gasses — stored for centuries inside the planet — which are captured and converted to meet our energy needs by the largest and most profitable companies on Earth<\/a>. The array of chemicals<\/a> used includes highly dangerous toxins, including endocrine disruptors, neurotoxins, and carcinogens. (A list of chemicals commonly used in fracking operations can be seen here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

The industry and its lobbyists<\/a> insist the process is safe<\/a>. In recent months, however, numerous studies conducted by a several scientific and academic researchers have been published which link fracking operations directly to significant water, air, and soil contamination across the United States, with serious public health implications. One researcher said that fracking is \u201cspewing cancer-causing chemicals into the air;\u201d another said that an increase in cancers, among residents living close to fracking operations, \u201cwas nearly certain.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following is a review of recent findings.<\/p>\n

In May, the National Academy of Sciences<\/a> reported on the presence of toxic drilling liquids in household drinking water in Bradford County, Pennsylvania (the \u2018most fracked<\/a>\u2019 county in Pennsylvania). The chemicals, including 2-Butoxyethanol, a known rodent-carcinogen (it’s not known if its carcinogenic in humans) \u201chad migrated laterally\u201d in the soil, from fracking operations, into a public drinking water aquifer.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, also in May, confirmed several deaths of oil and gas workers, in several states, due to acute exposure of toxic hydrocarbon fumes regularly used in the industry.<\/p>\n

Also in May, 100 California government officials sent a letter to Governor Brown<\/a> calling on a statewide moratorium on fracking operations due to water contamination. The legislators cited growing public concern about the safety of fracking operations since the release, late in 2014, of industry documents<\/a> which revealed that billions of gallons of highly toxic fracking wastewater was dumped directly into California aquifers which supply both drinking water and farming irrigation. Testing revealed high levels of arsenic, a known carcinogen, and other toxic chemicals including thallium (commonly used as rat poison) in the aquifers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that high concentrations are showing up in multiple water wells close to wastewater injection sites raises major concerns about the health and safety of nearby residents,\u201d said Timothy Kranz, a professor of environmental studies at University of Redlands. \u201cArsenic and thallium are extremely dangerous chemicals.\u201d Previous research confirmed the presence of benzene<\/a> in California fracking wastewater at hundreds<\/i> of times higher concentrations than federal standards allow.<\/p>\n

In April, researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health reported a\u00a0strong correlation<\/a> between radon levels and fracking throughout Pennsylvania. (Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer<\/a> in the United States.) The scientists studied over 2 million different radon test sites between 1987 and 2013 at nearly one million buildings and homes<\/a>. Radon levels increased in direct correlation to the increase in fracking operations during these years. The highest levels were found in locations closest to the drilling operations, often at alarming levels; almost 300,000 locations recorded radon levels which exceeded the EPA\u2019s safety minimum. Townships (where most fracking occurs) had a 39% higher concentration of radon<\/a> than urban areas. “By drilling 7,000 holes in the ground, the fracking industry may have\u00a0changed the geology and created new pathways for radon to rise to the surface,” said Joan Casey, a researcher involved in the report. “These findings worry us,\u201d said David S. Schwartz, the lead author of the report.<\/p>\n

(Previous studies over the past several years have linked methane contamination in groundwater to nearby fracking operations; in some cases methane had been leaking from\u00a0wells, continuously, for years before detection.)<\/p>\n

In March, the American Chemical Society<\/a> published the results of a joint study conducted at the University of Oregon<\/a> and the University of Cincinnati which found high levels of carcinogenic PAHs ( polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ) in residential areas of Pennsylvania close to active gas wells; air samples were taken throughout the region, and proximity to the wells corresponded to higher concentrations of PAHs. PAHs are commonly used in fracking operations. The author of the study<\/a>\u00a0concluded, \u201cAir pollution from fracking operations may pose an under-recognized health hazard to people living near them.”<\/p>\n

New York governor Andrew Cuomo cited public health risks when he announced a statewide ban<\/a> on large-scale fracking in New York in December 2014. “When the public health commissioner says, ‘I wouldn’t let my family live in an area that is doing high-volume fracking,’ that is very sobering, and frankly, that is enough for me,” Cuomo told reporters. “Because if the state health commissioner doesn’t want his kids living there, I don’t want my kids living there, and I don’t want any New Yorkers’ kids living there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In October 2014, the journal Environmental Health<\/a><\/em>\u00a0published a report which concluded that oil and gas operations across the United States are \u201cspewing\u201d dangerous cancer-causing chemicals into the air — the lead author of the study called it \u201ca significant health risk.\u201d The study, conducted by researchers from the Institute for Health and the Environment at the State University of New York at Albany, found eight poisonous chemicals, in high concentrations, near wells and fracking sites in Arkansas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wyoming at levels that far exceeded recommended federal limits. This included hydrogen sulfide, a known neurotoxin, and benzene and formaldehyde, both carcinogens<\/a>. \u201cI was amazed,\u201d said Dr. David Carpenter, the lead author of the study. \u201cFive orders of magnitude over federal limits for benzene at one site \u2013 that\u2019s just incredible. You <\/i>could practically just light a match and have an explosion with that concentration. This is a significant public health risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carpenter emphasized the risk of cancer: \u201cCancer has a long latency, so you\u2019re not seeing an elevation in cancer in these communities. But 5, 10, 15 years from now, elevation in cancer is almost certain to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking is limited; there is no federal reporting requirement. Proposals to regulate a mandated reporting system have been thwarted repeatedly by the gas industry and its political allies in state capitals and in the US Congress. The fracking industry exerts considerable influence on the national political stage; oil and gas companies contributed more than $60 million<\/a> to federal candidates in the 2014 cycle, 87% percent<\/a>\u00a0of which went to Republican party members. Republican congressional leadership, in turn, has consistently opposed new disclosure regulations, and lobbyists are active on many fronts across the States to prevent widespread knowledge of the public health dangers. The New England Journal of Medicine<\/a><\/em> in 2013 accused the natural gas industry and its political allies of “infringing on the patient-physician relationship” in Pennsylvania, after the governor enacted laws which restrict the state\u2019s doctors<\/a> from discussing freely the potential links between a patient\u2019s symptoms and chemicals used in nearby fracking operations.<\/p>\n

Most recently, in March 2015, the GOP-led House of Representatives rejected new regulations<\/a> proposed by the Obama administration which would require disclosure of chemicals used and introduce new regulations on wastewater disposal. House Speaker John Boehner, arguing against the new regulations, promised to \u201cdo all we can\u201d to stop attempts to \u2018impeded the energy boom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no logical reason to add a new layer of top-down bureaucratic regulation,\u201d he said.\u00a0Boehner received\u00a0$679,000<\/a>\u00a0from the oil and gas industry in 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cElevation in Cancer is Certain to Happen\u201d The shale \u2018boom\u2019 in the United States since the mid-2000s has resulted in unprecedented growth for the oil and gas industry. This is largely the result of the\u00a0technology known as \u2018fracking\u2019 — hydraulic fracturing. The process involves drilling thousands of feet below the Earth\u2019s surface, then using explosives […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,12,26,35,38,47],"tags":[4086,14038,14600,17973,19505,29079],"spectra_custom_meta":{"_edit_lock":["1433856447:166"],"_edit_last":["166"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["Fracking"],"_yoast_wpseo_title":["Fracking Linked to Water Contamination, Cancer"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Studies linking fracking operations to air, water and soil contamination, including risks of cancer, are increasing."],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["80"],"_wpas_done_all":["1"],"omc_review_enable":["0"],"omc_user_ratings_visibility":["1"],"omc_review_type":["stars"],"omc_longer_summary":["In recent months an increasing number of studies have reported links between fracking operations and water, soil, and air contamination, representing a significant public health risk. "],"omc_criteria_display":["n"],"omc_featured_post":["0"],"omc_comment_type":["wp"],"dsq_thread_id":["3832908347"],"dpsp_networks_shares":["a:4:{s:8:\"facebook\";i:2;s:11:\"google-plus\";i:0;s:9:\"pinterest\";i:0;s:8:\"linkedin\";i:1;}"],"dpsp_networks_shares_total":["3"],"dpsp_networks_shares_last_updated":["1567126229"],"penci_post_views_count":["2023"],"penci_post_week_views_count":["16"],"penci_post_month_views_count":["58"],"rank_math_title":["Fracking Linked to Water Contamination, Cancer"],"rank_math_description":["Studies linking fracking operations to air, water and soil contamination, including risks of cancer, are increasing."],"rank_math_focus_keyword":["Fracking"],"rank_math_news_sitemap_robots":["index"],"rank_math_robots":["a:1:{i:0;s:5:\"index\";}"],"_uag_page_assets":["a:9:{s:3:\"css\";s:0:\"\";s:2:\"js\";s:0:\"\";s:18:\"current_block_list\";a:4:{i:0;s:10:\"core\/image\";i:1;s:14:\"core\/paragraph\";i:2;s:12:\"core\/heading\";i:3;s:17:\"core\/latest-posts\";}s:8:\"uag_flag\";b:0;s:11:\"uag_version\";s:10:\"1714089639\";s:6:\"gfonts\";a:0:{}s:10:\"gfonts_url\";s:0:\"\";s:12:\"gfonts_files\";a:0:{}s:14:\"uag_faq_layout\";b:0;}"],"rank_math_internal_links_processed":["1"]},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Don Lieber","author_link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/author\/donb\/"},"uagb_comment_info":60,"uagb_excerpt":"\u201cElevation in Cancer is Certain to Happen\u201d The shale \u2018boom\u2019 in the United States since the mid-2000s has resulted in unprecedented growth for the oil and gas industry. This is largely the result of the\u00a0technology known as \u2018fracking\u2019 — hydraulic fracturing. The process involves drilling thousands of feet below the Earth\u2019s surface, then using explosives…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44114"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}