Study Finds Communities Exposed To Fracking Have More Fetal and Childhood Health Problems

As the oil and gas industry look for ever cheaper ways to extract resources from deeper pockets of shale, communities are increasingly taking measures to battling back with restrictions, bans, and moratoriums against controversial extraction practices known as fracking.

Fracking, also called hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking, is the process of forcing a mixture of freshwater and toxic chemicals under high pressure into a well, enlarging the rock fracture to increase the extraction of oil and gas.

Anti-fracking protesters on the march in Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of the Huffington Post.

The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) reports that fracking exposes communities – among the most vulnerable being pregnant women, their unborn fetuses, and young children – to a cocktail of chemicals and substances, including: methane, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes), arsenic, radium, ozone, formaldehyde, radon, nitrogen oxides, methylene chloride, and silica sand.

“These substances are associated with low birth weight, birth defects, respiratory problems, cancer and fertility problems, said the CEH in a report that looked at the health and social effects on communities when fracking is introduced.

The report specifically focused air and water pollution associated with fracking, as well as the social impacts. Focusing on the sheer pollution, it found that “every part of the fracking process” from well construction to operations to transportation can threaten the health of a community.

The report found that pollution can occur in several ways, including from the production and transporting of materials to and from development sites (such as sand mining and trucking wastewater); emissions from drilling and fracking equipment; and equipment used in gas production, processing, transmission, and distribution.

Some of the chemicals that have leached into drinking water from tight oil and shale development sites, include: methane, BTEX, arsenic, and radium. Each of these chemicals have their own particular sort of threat to nearby human populations.

Methane can be flammable and explosive, and when trapped in confined spaces, like a home or garage, can cause suffocation, unconsciousness, and death. For residents near fracking sites, this is a real concern because of the likely direct impacts to them.

The CEH found in a study of 68 drinking wells in Pennsylvania and New York that methane contamination rose significantly with increasing proximity to fracking sites.

Anti-fracking protestors march in Pittsburg, Pa. Photo courtesy of pinterest.com.

Then there’s looking at the BTEX cocktail. The CEH found that, “BTEX is used in millions of gallons of fracking fluid every year,” leading to an array of health issues from infertility in men to women having miscarriages to cancer.

Looking at the BTEX chemicals individually, the CEH report found the following potential health effects:

• Benzene – exposure can cause irritation of the skin, eyes and upper respiratory tract as well as blisters on the skin. Exposure to benzene over a long period of time may cause blood disorders, reproductive and development disorders, and cancer.
• Toluene – exposure over a long period of time may cause nervous system effects, irritation of the skin, eyes, and respiratory tract, dizziness, headaches, difficulty with sleep, or birth defects.
• Ethylbenzene – can cause throat and eye irritation, chest congestion, and dizziness. Long-term exposure can cause blood disorders.
• Xylenes – exposure can cause irritation to the nose and throat, vomiting, gastric irritation, mild transient eye irritation, and neurological effects. Long-term exposure to high levels of xylene can severely affect the nervous system, and death may occur due to the failure of automatic neurological processes.

In addition, arsenic and radium are often found in water as a result of fracking, which pose their own concerns.

“A wide range of health problems are associated with arsenic exposure, including the thickening and discoloration of the skin, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, numbness in the hands and feet, partial paralysis, and blindness,” said the CEH.

Radium, which is normally found deep underground, is brought up to the surface as part of flowback (wastewater), and can cause health issues including anemia, fractured teeth, and cancer.

All of the chemicals mentioned, with the exception of radium, can also be breathed in as a result of emissions from fracking sites. Actually, airborne emissions from fracking release an even greater number of pollutants, adding to the list: ozone, formaldehyde, radon, nitrogen oxide, methylene chloride, silica sand, hydrogen sulfide, and particulate matter.

The CEH explained that, “Ground level ozone (commonly known as smog) is different from stratospheric ozone, which protects us from the sun’s harmful rays. Ground level ozone is reactive and damaging to lung tissue. It is particularly harmful to children and active young adults who spend time outdoors.

“Exposure to ozone is associated with reduced lung function and chronic exposure can lead to asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and can worsen pre-existing asthma and emphysema.”

Affecting other aspects of health, formaldehyde was shown to be correlated to fertility problems in men, and a host of other broader ranging health issues. The CEH cited a study which “found that if men were exposed to formaldehyde at work, their partners took longer to get pregnant and were more likely to have miscarriages when they did become pregnant.”

Formaldehyde is a very toxic carcinogen. While ingestion can cause severe damage to the upper gastrointestinal tract, inhalation can cause irritation and burning of the eyes and mucus membrane, as well as increased risk of asthma and cancer of the nose and throat. Formaldehyde has also been linked to neurological problems, decreased body weight, and liver damage.

Also causing eye irritation is nitrogen oxide, which can also cause irritation to a person’s skin and respiratory tract. Exposure can also result in damage to the pulmonary system, including contributing to health issues such as bronchitis, pneumonitis, pulmonary edema, and emphysema.

Inhalation of very high concentrations of nitrogen oxide can also lead to internal burns, spasms, swelling of the throat, tissue, and even death. 

Similarly, methylene chloride can be absorbed either through ingestion and inhalation, but also physical contact, which can cause burns. Inhalation can damage the central nervous system, and at concentrations above 8,000 parts per million, unconsciousness and death can occur.

Another airborne threat to human health is hydrogen sulfide, which the CEH reported has “been found near gas wells in Colorado and has an odor of rotten eggs, noticeable at low levels.”

Hydrogen sulfide can cause irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat. It can also cause breathing difficulty for asthmatics. Acute exposure to hydrogen sulfide at concentrations above 500 parts per million can cause a loss of consciousness. Long-terms effects include headaches, poor attention span, memory damage, and poor motor skills.

Equally as dangerous as chemicals are substances such as silica sands, which are used in fracking to prop open fissures allowing gas to flow to the surface. Silica particles can cause silicosis, a nonreversible and sometimes fatal lung disease. Respirable crystalline silica is also a known human carcinogen and can lead to lung cancer.

Another health concern is increased level in the environment of fine particulate matter, which is generated with the use of diesel-powered equipment and vehicles that transport water, sand, chemicals, and other equipment.

Besides the health threats from the chemicals and other materials, there are also the unexpected social impacts.

The CEH found that, “Shale development typically industrializes a community, opening its doors to convoys of tractor-trailers, ‘man camps’ for temporary workers not invested in or committed to the community, and noise pollution from the constant hum of operating equipment and increased traffic.”

The CEH also cited studies showing “that there is a significant relationship between traffic volume and the number of vehicle accidents involving pedestrians with injury risk estimates up to 14 times greater for child pedestrians,” compared to areas where there is less traffic.

Noise was also found to be a significant issue in relation to fracking in communities. The construction of rigs, operating equipment, and transportation all significantly increase noise levels.

The CEH found that, “Health outcomes related to noise pollution include hypertension, sleep disturbance, cardiovascular disease, stroke, increased aggression, depression, and cognitive impairment (problems with attention and recognition).”

The CEH also found that, “Noise from road traffic has been linked with a higher risk for heart attack and heart disease.”

Currently, fracking is largely exempt from most state and federal regulations. Source Watch reported that as of 2012, fracking is exempt from several major federal regulations, including:

• The Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, due to the Halliburton loophole that was pushed through by former vice president/former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney, exempting corporations from having to reveal the chemicals used in fracking fluids.
• The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which exempts fracking from federal regulations pertaining to hazardous waste, except for when diesel fuel is used.
• The Superfund law, which requires that polluters remediate for carcinogens like benzene released into the environment, except if they come from oil or gas.
• The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
• The National Environmental Policy Act
• The Toxic Release Inventory under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

The CEH says that legislators and regulators should “require far more rigorous oversight of fracking” and close “the loopholes that allow natural gas developers to sidestep vital federal environmental regulations.”

The CEH makes several recommendations to legislators, regulators, and community leaders for reducing the potentially harmful impacts of fracking, including:

• Supporting measures to increase the public’s access to specific information on chemicals used during drilling and fracking.
• Voting for moratoriums and bans that delay fracking until thorough studies can show that it can be done safely, including a comprehensive health impact assessment, and establishing a strict regulatory framework that ensures the process is done without contaminating air and water.

Many of these measures are already happening at the local level. Kate Sinding, a senior attorney and deputy director of the New York Urban Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, reported last month that several municipalities in Colorado had enacted anti-fracking measures.

Sinding said that, “In Colorado, residents of Fort Collins approved a 5-year moratorium on any new fracking “in order to fully study the impacts of this process on property values and human health. Boulder voters, meanwhile, extended an existing fracking moratorium until June 2018.

“And residents in Lafayette (Colorado) adopted a community bill of rights, that among other things, prohibits oil and gas extraction within the city. In Ohio, the city of Oberlin also voted to approve a community bill of rights prohibiting fracking.”

Several years ago, Buffalo, NY, became one of the first municipalities to ban fracking, but the oil and gas industry are trying to make new inroads in the state. In October, New Yorkers across the state rallied against proposed regulations that would lift a 40-year old moratorium on new liquefied natural gas uses. The moratorium was enacted after a major explosion killed 40 workers in Staten Island in 1973.

In February, on the 40-year anniverasy of the explosion, Staten Island Live reminded readers that it was “the worst industrial disaster in Staten Island history,” when the “explosion blew the concrete roof off a liquefied natural gas tank on the borough’s shore.”

SI Live also added that, “At least a half dozen federal, state, and city agencies investigated and ultimately determined that the explosion was caused  by pockets of gas in the tank’s liner.”

In October, New Yorkers Against Fracking protested the new pending pro-fracking regulations, telling the New York Department of Environmental Conservation that the new regulations “would give a green light for the oil and gas industry to potentially build out a massive infrastructure for hydraulic fracturing or fracking.”

The group further told the agency that, “If this is not the intent, the regulations should be withdrawn. If these regulations are really being adopted to provide long-haul trucks and local governments with liquefied natural gas fueling stations, the DEC can easily limit the regulations to provide for that specific use.”

Last year, Vermont was the first state in the U.S. to ban fracking for natural gas.

Related GreenVitals Article

• Towns Across America Receiving Legal Support Against Fracking From Oil & Gas Companies

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