A new study from the University of Pittsburgh has found a correlation between hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and certain adverse health outcomes, including childhood lymphoma, asthma, and birth complications.
The three-year study commissioned by former Gov. Tom Wolf and funded by $2.5 million from the Pennsylvania Department of Health utilized health data from across southwestern Pennsylvania, which has most of the state’s nearly 219,000 active fracking wells.
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Since former Gov. Ed Rendell opened state-owned lands for drilling, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania has generated over $1 billion in revenue from fracking, which involves horizontal drilling into shale rock and pumping in water to extract natural gas.
Researchers found that “children who lived within one mile of one or more wells had a 5 to 7 times chance of developing lymphoma,” which is a cancer that originates in the lymphatic system. The risk of children contracting the disease, however, is tremendously small, with children living near fracking sites at a 0.006% risk compared to the 0.0012% risk in the general youth population.
The results of adverse consequences were stronger for those with asthma, with the study finding those living near fracking wells having a four to five times greater chance of a severe asthma attack, including hospitalization, during the production phase of well operations. The risks of severe asthma consequences were lower for other phases during the hydraulic fracturing process.
Pregnant mothers also demonstrated a higher risk of adverse birth outcomes based on their proximity to fracking wells.
Babies born to mothers living within one mile of an active fracking well were more likely to be one ounce smaller than average or were diagnosed as small for gestational age, neither of which typically poses significant health risks to the infant.
“The chance of being born prematurely was not specifically associated with unconventional natural gas development, but high levels of particulate air pollution from any source were associated with being born prematurely,” researchers noted.
A recent study from the National Institutes of Health also found that particulate matter air pollution in general is linked to higher rates of dementia as well as the already documented strong links between air pollution and cardiopulmonary health risks, such as heart attacks and lung disease.
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Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh clarified that their study was not designed to prove a causal link between fracking and adverse health outcomes but to examine the correlation between the controversial form of energy production and several categories of health problems.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has not yet issued a statement on the findings.
