health risks of living near natural gas development

8/19/2019 Health Risks of Living Near Natural Gas Development

1/21

Health Risks of Living Near

Natural Gas Development

Anne C. Epstein, MD, FAC

!""# Rene$a%le Denton &o$n Hall

Mar'h (), ("!*


2/21

Health Ha+ars of Living in the Mistof Dense Natural Gas Development

• -lo$outs an Eplosions

• -urns from $ell /res

•

lumes of toi' gas• &oi' air pollutants0 -en+ene

• Human 1llness o'umente – Congenital heart isease, lo$

%irth $eight, premature %irth

– Heart isease, neurologi'

isease, an hospitali+ations – Respirator2 an skin s2mptoms

1mage Creit3 Cooper Nell, Denton &4


3/21


4/21

Risk of -urns from -lo$out FiresHale2 M, M'Ca$le2 M, Epstein AC, Arrington -, -6erke EF. Ae7ua'2 of Current 8tate 8et%a'ks for

Dire'tional High09olume H2rauli' Fra'turing in the Mar'ellus, -arnett, an Nio%rara 8hale la2s. EnvironHealth erspe't: http3;;.oi.org;!".!(


5/21

Ho$ Far Can &oi' Gas lumes &ravelFort @orth League of Neigh%orhoos, Re'ommenations for oli'2 Changes for Gas Drilling Near 8'hools, Fe%

("!!

• ( $ell sites 'lose to s'hools

• Data from 1nustr2, &CEI

• Dispersion Moeling

!ar"on #isul$de0 a neurotoin

• Dete'te at one site "" timesthe norm for am%ient air0 &CEIviolation – lume etene ! mile from the

sour'e, full etentJ ( mi

– Kp to !""" times the short term

health %en'hmark

!ar"on%l Sul$de – lume etene in e'ess of !

mile

– Kp to * times the health%en'hmark


6/21

ollutants from Natural Gas o$er lantshttps3;;$$$.epa.gov;ttn'hie!;ap>(;'h";/nal;'"s"!.pf

&itrogen '(ides

Lung isease hospitali+ations, ozone

!ar"on )ono(ide

Reu'es o2gen in the %loo

*'!s More $;lo$er operating loa0ozone

+azardous Air ollutants

Formaleh2e skin, respirator2, 'an'er

-en+ene %loo 5 immune isease, 'an'er

&oluene0 neurologi' isease

Eth2l%en+ene0 respirator2, neurologi'

42lenes0 neurologi', respirator2

Sulfur #io(ide A'i rain

articulate )atter

8erious heart 5 lung isease in'luingeath, ha+e, a'i rain

$$$.epa.gov multiple pages

1mage3 Calpine Corp, hotographer3 Guaalupe Energ2 Centernear 8an Antonio

https://www3.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch03/final/c03s01.pdfhttps://www3.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch03/final/c03s01.pdf


7/21

&oi' Air Emissions3

-en+eneA highl% to(ic carcinogen thatoccurs naturall% in oil and gas• *'!-volatile organic comound

Long0term health ee'ts

• Leukemia0 a Group ! Car'inogen

• Life0threatening anemia

• 1mmune s2stem suppression

• ossi%le fetal a%normalities

9er2 high levels of eposure

• Coma, sei+ures, irregular heart rh2thms,Bui in the lungs, eath

Chilren an eveloping fetuses are more

vulnera%le to all toi' air emissions

A&8DR August (""?, $$.atsr.''.gov;toi'pro/les;tp.pf,

CDC Emergen'2 8afet2 an Health Data%ase

aulson, &estimon2 %efore House 8u%'ommittee Fe% ("!>

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxicprofiles/tp3.pdfhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxicprofiles/tp3.pdfhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxicprofiles/tp3.pdfhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxicprofiles/tp3.pdfhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxicprofiles/tp3.pdf


8/21

-en+ene from Gas Leaks3 &CEI -arnett 8hale 8tu2 (""=

• monitoring sites surve2e (""=

–Looking for leaks

–Fl2over, GasFin1R 'ameras, 9Cmonitors

• Air samples 'olle'te at sites

• -en+ene $as ete'te a%ove the long

term health %ase 'omparison valueJ !.> pp% at (! monitoring sites in!( ierent areas

• 2 sites re7uire immeiate a'tion forvalue J !


9/21

Fl2over Air Monitoring in Coloraoetron et al, American Geophysical Union, Ma2 ("!>

&ational 'ceanic andAtmosheric Administration

• A &op Do$n evaluation of%en+ene an other toi' airemissions

• Air%orne measurements of airpollutants P !( Bights in Ma2("!(

• Correlate $ith atmospheri'ata

•

Results3 -en+ene emissions$ere ? 0 = times higher thanestimate %2 8tate of Coloraoinventories

1mage Creit3 @ill von Dauster, NAA


10/21

Human health risk assessment of air emissions fromevelopment of un'onventional natural gas resour'es M'Qen+ie et al, Science of the Total Environment >(> ("!(

Colorao 8'hool of u%li' Health

Measure ha+arous air pollutantsat ierent istan'es from 5G $ells

Near3 )"" feet from a $ell

Far3 (*"" feet from a $ell

Foun elevate levels of -en+ene, &oluene, Eth2l%en+ene, 42lene-&E4 'loser to $ells 'ompare tofarther a$a2

Cal'ulate the risk of illness

Con'lue eople living )"" feetor less from $ells ha

• ) &1ME8 higher risk of illness ueto ha+arous air pollutants


11/21

Meian Air &oin Con'entrations During @ellCompletion in Gar/el Count2 C

M'Qen+ie et al, Science of the Total Environment , (( Mar'h ("!(

"

!

(

>)

*

?

<

=

Natural Gas

Development AreaJ !;( mile a$a2

@ell Completionsamples !"0)"" ftfrom $ell pa, 'enter,uring un'ontrolle,

Bo$%a'k

mcg/ m1


12/21

@est 9irginia Dept of Environmental rote'tionMa2 ("!

M'Ca$le2 ("!

he Stud%

• Reason for 8tu23 to assess$hether *() foot set%a'k isae7uate to prote't pu%li' health

•

8ample sites3 ? un'onventionalrilling sites

3esults

-en+ene levels e'eee minimumrisk levels for a'ute eposure =

pp% for eposure of !> a2s or lessin

• ) out of !) samples, from

• out of ) ierent sites


13/21

4&5&S5 5'S735 ' &A73A8 9AS 588S)A; A


14/21

-irth ut'omes an Maternal Resientialroimit2 to Natural Gas Development in

Rural ColoraoM'Qen+ie et al, Environmental Health Perspectives, (< Oanuar2 ("!>

&he ata3 !==* 0 (""=

• All %irth re'ors in rural Colorao

• All hospital an 'lini' re'ors of%irth efe'ts

• Re'ors of lo'ation an 2ear %uilt forall gas $ells in rural Colorao

otal 12,?2 "irths

• Maternal eposure to gas $ells3 ho$far a$a2 an ho$ man2 gas $ells atthe time of %irth

• eposure groups3 – Lo$ !0 $ells;mile

– Meium >0!(> $ells; mile – High J!(> $ells; mile

• Referen'e group3 no gas $ells $ithin!" miles

1mage Creit3 Erie Rising


15/21

-irth ut'omes an Maternal Resiential roimit2 toNatural Gas Development in Rural ColoraoM'Qen+ie et al, Environmental Health Perspectives, (< Oanuar2 ("!>

Num%er of %a%ies %orn $ithCongenital Heart Disease

Compare to " $ells $;in !"miles3

!"# in'rease risk for !0$ells; mile , lo$ eposure (

("# in'rease risk for >0!(>$ells; mile, meium eposure ""%irths

"# in'rease risk for J !()$ells; mile, high eposure )) %irths

8tatisti'al signi/'an'e pS ".""!

A6uste for multiple fa'tors 1mage Creit3 -a%2Me.'om


16/21

Kn'onventional Natural Gas Development an -irthut'omes in enns2lvania, K8A

Case2 et al, Epidemiology , a''epte != August ("!)

All !",""" %a%ies %orn in ( hospitalsin A (""*0("!)

Cal'ulate %a%iesT eposure to $ella'tivit2 $ithin (" QM uring thepregnan'2

-a%ies in the highest 7uartile ofeposure avg !(> $ells; (" km ha a

• >" # in'rease risk of premature%irth

Compare to %a%ies in the lo$est7uartile of eposure avg * $ells; ("

km

• 8tatisti'all2 signi/'ant, a6uste formultiple varia%les

1mage Creit3 8huttersto'k


17/21

erinatal ut'omes an Kn'onventional NaturalGas perations in 8outh$est enns2lvania

8ta'2 et al, PLOS ONE, Oune , ("!)

• !),>?! %irth re'ors

– 'ounties in A (""?0("!"

• )"= a'tive KNG $ells

• Estimate eposure

–num%er an istan'e of $ells $;in !"miles uring pregnan'2

3esults1nfants in the highest 7uartile ofeposure J * $ells; mile $ere

• ># more likel2 to have lo$%irth$eight, %elo$ !"th per'entile

Compare to infants in the lo$est

7uartile of eposure S ".


18/21

Kn'onventional Gas an il Drilling is Asso'iate$ith 1n'rease Hospital Ktili+ation Rates

Oamielita et al, PLOS ONE Oul2 !), ("!)

• All =),""" hospitali+ation re'orsfrom rural 'ounties in A (""?0("!!

• atient Eposure to a'tive $ellssorte %2 +ip 'oe – !? +ip 'oes ha J !"" $ells

eople in +ip 'oes $ith a highernum"er or densit% of wells hasigni/'antl2 more

• &otal hospitali+ations

• Hospitali+ations for heart isease

–

. in highest 7uartile'ompare to =.2 $;o $ells

• Hospitali+ations for neurologi'alisease stroke, arkinsonTs

Compare to +ip 'oes $ith no$ells

1mage 'reit3 &o Heisler;&he Ne$ Uork &1mes


19/21

roimit2 to Natural Gas @ells an Reporte Health 8tatus3Results of a Househol 8urve2 in @ashington Count2, A

Ra%ino$it+ et al Environmental Health Perspectives 8ept ("!>

he #ata

•!


20/21

8ummar2 3&he 8'ienti/' Evien'e forHuman 1llness Asso'iate $ith Natural Gas

Development

1n high 7ualit2 s'ienti/'stuies, intense eposureto KNG natural gas a'tivit2has %een linke to3

•

Congenital heart isease• remature %irth

• Lo$ %irth $eight

• Ault hospitali+ations

•

Ault heart isease• Ault neurologi' isease

• Respirator2 an skins2mptoms1mage 'reit3 Lighthouse 8olar


21/21

Health Ha+ars of Living in the Mistof Dense Natural Gas Development

• -lo$outs an Eplosions

• -urns from $ell /res

• lumes of toi' gas

• &oi' air pollutants0 -en+ene

• Human 1llness o'umente – Congenital heart isease, lo$

%irth $eight, premature %irth

– Heart isease, neurologi'

isease, an hospitali+ations – Respirator2 an skin s2mptoms

1mage Creit3 Cooper Nell, Denton &4

health risks of living near natural gas development

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