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Aker AM, Friesen M, Ronald LA, Doyle-Waters MM, Takaro TK, Thickson W, Levin K, Meyer U, Caron-Beaudoin E, McGregor MJ. The human health effects of unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD): A scoping review of epidemiologic studies. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH = REVUE CANADIENNE DE SANTE PUBLIQUE 2024; 115:446-467. [PMID: 38457120 PMCID: PMC11133301 DOI: 10.17269/s41997-024-00860-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD, sometimes termed "fracking" or "hydraulic fracturing") is an industrial process to extract methane gas and/or oil deposits. Many chemicals used in UOGD have known adverse human health effects. Canada is a major producer of UOGD-derived gas with wells frequently located in and around rural and Indigenous communities. Our objective was to conduct a scoping review to identify the extent of research evidence assessing UOGD exposure-related health impacts, with an additional focus on Canadian studies. METHODS We included English- or French-language peer-reviewed epidemiologic studies (January 2000-December 2022) which measured exposure to UOGD chemicals directly or by proxy, and where health outcomes were plausibly caused by UOGD-related chemical exposure. Results synthesis was descriptive with results ordered by outcome and hierarchy of methodological approach. SYNTHESIS We identified 52 studies from nine jurisdictions. Only two were set in Canada. A majority (n = 27) used retrospective cohort and case-control designs. Almost half (n = 24) focused on birth outcomes, with a majority (n = 22) reporting one or more significant adverse associations of UOGD exposure with: low birthweight; small for gestational age; preterm birth; and one or more birth defects. Other studies identified adverse impacts including asthma (n = 7), respiratory (n = 13), cardiovascular (n = 6), childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia (n = 2), and all-cause mortality (n = 4). CONCLUSION There is a growing body of research, across different jurisdictions, reporting associations of UOGD with adverse health outcomes. Despite the rapid growth of UOGD, which is often located in remote, rural, and Indigenous communities, Canadian research on its effects on human health is remarkably sparse. There is a pressing need for additional evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amira M Aker
- Université Laval, CHU de Quebec - Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Michael Friesen
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Lisa A Ronald
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
- Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Mary M Doyle-Waters
- Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Tim K Takaro
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Willow Thickson
- Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Karen Levin
- Emerald Environmental Consulting, Kent, OH, USA
| | - Ulrike Meyer
- Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Elyse Caron-Beaudoin
- Department of Health and Society and Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Margaret J McGregor
- Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
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Li L, Dominici F, Blomberg AJ, Bargagli-Stoffi FJ, Schwartz JD, Coull BA, Spengler JD, Wei Y, Lawrence J, Koutrakis P. Exposure to Unconventional Oil and Gas Development and All-cause Mortality in Medicare Beneficiaries. NATURE ENERGY 2022; 7:177-185. [PMID: 35425643 PMCID: PMC9004666 DOI: 10.1038/s41560-021-00970-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Little is known about whether exposure to unconventional oil and gas development is associated with higher mortality risks in the elderly and whether related air pollutants are exposure pathways. We studied a cohort of 15,198,496 Medicare beneficiaries (136,215,059 person-years) in all major U.S. unconventional exploration regions from 2001 to 2015. We gathered data from records of more than 2.5 million oil and gas wells. For each beneficiary's ZIP code of residence and year in the cohort, we calculated a proximity-based and a downwind-based pollutant exposure. We analyzed the data using two methods: Cox proportional hazards model and Difference-in-Differences. We found evidence of statistically significant higher mortality risk associated with living in proximity to and downwind of unconventional oil and gas wells. Our results suggest that primary air pollutants sourced from unconventional oil and gas exploration can be a major exposure pathway with adverse health effects in the elderly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Longxiang Li
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Francesca Dominici
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Annelise J. Blomberg
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | - Joel D. Schwartz
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Brent A. Coull
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - John D. Spengler
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yaguang Wei
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Joy Lawrence
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Petros Koutrakis
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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Blinn HN, Utz RM, Greiner LH, Brown DR. Exposure assessment of adults living near unconventional oil and natural gas development and reported health symptoms in southwest Pennsylvania, USA. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0237325. [PMID: 32810134 PMCID: PMC7446921 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2019] [Accepted: 07/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent research has shown relationships between health outcomes and residence proximity to unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD). The challenge of connecting health outcomes to environmental stressors requires ongoing research with new methodological approaches. We investigated UOGD density and well emissions and their association with symptom reporting by residents of southwest Pennsylvania. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 104 unique, de-identified health assessments completed from 2012-2017 by residents living in proximity to UOGD. A novel approach to comparing estimates of exposure was taken. Generalized linear modeling was used to ascertain the relationship between symptom counts and estimated UOGD exposure, while Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis (TITAN) was used to identify associations between individual symptoms and estimated UOGD exposure. We used three estimates of exposure: cumulative well density (CWD), inverse distance weighting (IDW) of wells, and annual emission concentrations (AEC) from wells within 5 km of respondents' homes. Taking well emissions reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, an air dispersion and screening model was used to estimate an emissions concentration at residences. When controlling for age, sex, and smoker status, each exposure estimate predicted total number of reported symptoms (CWD, p<0.001; IDW, p<0.001; AEC, p<0.05). Akaike information criterion values revealed that CWD was the better predictor of adverse health symptoms in our sample. Two groups of symptoms (i.e., eyes, ears, nose, throat; neurological and muscular) constituted 50% of reported symptoms across exposures, suggesting these groupings of symptoms may be more likely reported by respondents when UOGD intensity increases. Our results do not confirm that UOGD was the direct cause of the reported symptoms but raise concern about the growing number of wells around residential areas. Our approach presents a novel method of quantifying exposures and relating them to reported health symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah N. Blinn
- Falk School of Sustainability, Chatham University, Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, McMurray, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Ryan M. Utz
- Falk School of Sustainability, Chatham University, Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Lydia H. Greiner
- Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, McMurray, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - David R. Brown
- Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, McMurray, Pennsylvania, United States of America
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