It seems
the best work on public health impacts of fracking is being done in those areas
where the fracking is not already occurring. First from New Brunswick and
discussed at the most visited DrPHealth posting at Fracking
an obscene word . Now out
of the UK comes an excellent review of the potential public health impacts and a
solid contribution to our understanding.
Notable in
its conclusions are that well managed and executed fracking is unlikely any
risk to public health. The threat is in
the management of materials on the surface and the integrity of the well
casing.
Contamination
of ground waters where it has happened appears secondary to poorly sealed wells
or surface spills, putting the emphasis back to the development and operation
of the fracking as the concern if any.
What the
document does well is break out in a health risk assessment approach to the
relative potential threats, reviews existing evidence in areas such as air
pollution, radon and other radioactive materials, water, wastewater, and chemical
contamination.
Most public
concerns seem to centre around water contamination. The report details a review of 43 documented
incidents of water contamination. It
also emphasizes that natural gas fracturing occurs at typically 1 km or more,
whereas even the deepest ground water supplies do not approach this depth.
The report
provides excellent recommendations on further research needs.
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