Living Near Fracking Sites Linked to Health Problems, Medical Hospitalizations

Scientists from the University of Colombia and the University of Pennsylvania have published a study in the journal PLOS ONE where they reported that living close to fracking sites could be injurious to one’s health and lead to serious hospitalizations.

Fracking Site in Warren Center, PA 07

Fracking Site in Warren Center, PA. Source: Fracking Lawyer (CC)

The researchers were prompted into conducting the research when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a 5-year report that fracking does not have any significant impact on drinking water anywhere. But then, the latest team’s research shows that unconventional gas and oil drilling has been linked with higher rates of hospitalizations with serious health consequences.

Fracking is also known as hydraulic drilling, and it is the practice whereby extractive industries pump chemicals into the ground in order to access oil, and it is a practice that has increased so much in the US over the past decade.

The researchers say living close to active oil wells has long-term health effects, and this is based on several data obtained from the Pennsylvania Healthcare Cost Containment Council which centered on 198,000 hospitalizations between 2007-2011.

According to the researchers, residents living close to fracking sites experience noise, get exposed to toxicants, and experience social inconvenience.

Reynold Panettieri, one of the study authors noted that “This study represents one of the most comprehensive to date to link health effects with hydraulic fracturing. Our findings provide important clues to design epidemiological studies to associate specific toxicant exposures with health end-points”.

The rate of hospitalization for cardiovascular events increased, and several others were treated for neurologic infections. And others suffer other related ailments that had to do with respiratory conditions…

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