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.

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

If you don’t know what fracking is, it means it’s not happening anywhere near you, but it might! Fracking is a highly controversial and toxic process of extracting natural gas and oil deposits from mining sites that were inaccessible only a few decades ago.

Image from The Watchers: Watching The World Evolve And Transform.

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

Source Watch, a publication for The Center for Media and Democracy, explains that, “chemical additives many include hydrochloric acid (typically pumped before the job to clean up the formation), additional friction reducers, clay controls, weighting agents, and gel breakers.”

Source Watch adds that although no complete list exists of the chemicals used in the process, “information obtained from environmental clean-up sites demonstrates that known toxins are routinely being used, including hydrochloric acid, diesel fuel (which contains benzene, tuolene, and xylene) as well as formaldehyde, polyacrylimides, arsenic, and chromates.”

In June, the preservation group American Rivers reported that, “Injecting diesel underground is problematic because of the toxic chemicals it contains, especially the ‘BTEX’ compound. BTEX refers to benzene, tuolene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. These chemicals are linked to numerous adverse health effects including cancer, kidney and liver problems, and nervous system damage.”

“They are toxic at very low levels and are soluble in water, which is of particular concern when injecting them into the ground in proximity to underground sources of drinking water,” added American Rivers.

A few weeks ago, in an ongoing effort to address such problems, The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) announced the creation of its ‘Community Fracking Defense Project’ to provide legal and policy assistance to towns and local governments across the nation who are seeking to add controls or protections from fracking in their communities.

The new project will launch in five states – New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and North Carolina – with projects varying from state-to-state based on differences in fracking activities and regulatory protections.

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