SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Can Simply Living Near a Fracking Site Send You to the Hospital?
Residents living near shale gas wells are more likely to be admitted to hospitals for heart, nervous system, and other medical issues
Jul 16, 2015
People living near "unconventional gas and oil drilling" operations were more likely to be hospitalized for heart, nervous system, and other medical conditions than those who were not in proximity to those sites, a new study published Wednesday has found.
It's the latest--and most comprehensive--indication that hydraulic fracturing, the controversial shale gas drilling method also known as fracking, and all the "noise, the trucks, the drilling, the flaring, the anxiety" it brings may have impact on residents in nearby areas, the study, titled Unconventional Gas and Oil Drilling Is Associated with Increased Hospital Utilization Rates, found--and the consequences hit more than their health.
The impacts of fracking "all can impart an aberrant stress response on the body that could make people more susceptible," to health problems, and with "an inpatient stay costing on average [$30,000], this poses a significant economic health burden to the [commonwealth]," states the study, conducted by researchers with the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports:
[Researchers] found a significant association between hospitalization rates for cardiological or neurologic conditions and areas with either a higher number or higher density of wells, while hospitalizations for other medical categories, including skin and urological conditions and cancer, had a weaker association with drilling activity. Inpatient prevalence rates for most of the 25 medical categories the researchers studied remained relatively stable over the five-year period, they found.
"This study captured the collective response of residents to hydraulic fracturing in zip codes within the counties with higher well densities," said senior author Reynold Panettieri, Jr., MD, a deputy director at Penn's Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET).
"This study represents one of the most comprehensive to date to link health effects with hydraulic fracturing," he added.
The authors warned that "more study is needed to determine how specific, individual toxicants or combinations may increase hospitalization rates," according to Penn Medicine's write-up of the study. However, Penn Medicine says:
While the study does not prove that hydraulic fracturing actually causes these health problems, the authors say, the hospitalization increases observed over the relatively short time span of observation suggests that healthcare costs of hydraulic fracturing must be factored into the economic benefits of unconventional gas and oil drilling.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
People living near "unconventional gas and oil drilling" operations were more likely to be hospitalized for heart, nervous system, and other medical conditions than those who were not in proximity to those sites, a new study published Wednesday has found.
It's the latest--and most comprehensive--indication that hydraulic fracturing, the controversial shale gas drilling method also known as fracking, and all the "noise, the trucks, the drilling, the flaring, the anxiety" it brings may have impact on residents in nearby areas, the study, titled Unconventional Gas and Oil Drilling Is Associated with Increased Hospital Utilization Rates, found--and the consequences hit more than their health.
The impacts of fracking "all can impart an aberrant stress response on the body that could make people more susceptible," to health problems, and with "an inpatient stay costing on average [$30,000], this poses a significant economic health burden to the [commonwealth]," states the study, conducted by researchers with the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports:
[Researchers] found a significant association between hospitalization rates for cardiological or neurologic conditions and areas with either a higher number or higher density of wells, while hospitalizations for other medical categories, including skin and urological conditions and cancer, had a weaker association with drilling activity. Inpatient prevalence rates for most of the 25 medical categories the researchers studied remained relatively stable over the five-year period, they found.
"This study captured the collective response of residents to hydraulic fracturing in zip codes within the counties with higher well densities," said senior author Reynold Panettieri, Jr., MD, a deputy director at Penn's Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET).
"This study represents one of the most comprehensive to date to link health effects with hydraulic fracturing," he added.
The authors warned that "more study is needed to determine how specific, individual toxicants or combinations may increase hospitalization rates," according to Penn Medicine's write-up of the study. However, Penn Medicine says:
While the study does not prove that hydraulic fracturing actually causes these health problems, the authors say, the hospitalization increases observed over the relatively short time span of observation suggests that healthcare costs of hydraulic fracturing must be factored into the economic benefits of unconventional gas and oil drilling.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
People living near "unconventional gas and oil drilling" operations were more likely to be hospitalized for heart, nervous system, and other medical conditions than those who were not in proximity to those sites, a new study published Wednesday has found.
It's the latest--and most comprehensive--indication that hydraulic fracturing, the controversial shale gas drilling method also known as fracking, and all the "noise, the trucks, the drilling, the flaring, the anxiety" it brings may have impact on residents in nearby areas, the study, titled Unconventional Gas and Oil Drilling Is Associated with Increased Hospital Utilization Rates, found--and the consequences hit more than their health.
The impacts of fracking "all can impart an aberrant stress response on the body that could make people more susceptible," to health problems, and with "an inpatient stay costing on average [$30,000], this poses a significant economic health burden to the [commonwealth]," states the study, conducted by researchers with the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports:
[Researchers] found a significant association between hospitalization rates for cardiological or neurologic conditions and areas with either a higher number or higher density of wells, while hospitalizations for other medical categories, including skin and urological conditions and cancer, had a weaker association with drilling activity. Inpatient prevalence rates for most of the 25 medical categories the researchers studied remained relatively stable over the five-year period, they found.
"This study captured the collective response of residents to hydraulic fracturing in zip codes within the counties with higher well densities," said senior author Reynold Panettieri, Jr., MD, a deputy director at Penn's Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET).
"This study represents one of the most comprehensive to date to link health effects with hydraulic fracturing," he added.
The authors warned that "more study is needed to determine how specific, individual toxicants or combinations may increase hospitalization rates," according to Penn Medicine's write-up of the study. However, Penn Medicine says:
While the study does not prove that hydraulic fracturing actually causes these health problems, the authors say, the hospitalization increases observed over the relatively short time span of observation suggests that healthcare costs of hydraulic fracturing must be factored into the economic benefits of unconventional gas and oil drilling.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.