Proximity to Natural Gas Wells and Reported Health Status: Results of a Household Survey in Washington County, Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dziura JD ; Holford TR ; Kane MJ ; Lamers V ; Peduzzi PN ; Rabinowitz PM ; Reif JS ; Slizovskiy IB ; Stowe MH ; Trufan SJ ; Weiss TR
• Description:
  Background: Little is known about the environmental and public health impact of unconventional natural gas extraction activities, including hydraulic fracturing, that occur near residential areas. Objectives: Our aim was to assess the relationship between household proximity to natural gas wells and reported health symptoms. Methods: We conducted a hypothesis-generating health symptom survey of 492 persons in 180 randomly selected households with ground-fed wells in an area of active natural gas drilling. Gas well proximity for each household was compared with the prevalence and frequency of reported dermal, respiratory, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and neurological symptoms. Results: The number of reported health symptoms per person was higher among residents living < 1 km (mean +/- SD, 3.27 +/- 3.72) compared with > 2 km from the nearest gas well (mean +/- SD, 1.60 +/- 2.14; p = 0.0002). In a model that adjusted for age, sex, household education, smoking, awareness of environmental risk, work type, and animals in house, reported skin conditions were more common in households < 1 km compared with > 2 km from the nearest gas well (odds ratio = 4.1; 95% CI: 1.4, 12.3; p = 0.01). Upper respiratory symptoms were also more frequently reported in persons living in households < 1 km from gas wells (39%) compared with households 1-2 km or > 2 km from the nearest well (31 and 18%, respectively) (p = 0.004). No equivalent correlation was found between well proximity and other reported groups of respiratory, neurological, cardiovascular, or gastrointestinal conditions. Conclusion: Although these results should be viewed as hypothesis generating, and the population studied was limited to households with a ground-fed water supply, proximity of natural gas wells may be associated with the prevalence of health symptoms including dermal and respiratory conditions in residents living near natural gas extraction activities. Further study of these associations, including the role of specific air and water exposures, is warranted. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety Skin Skin Diseases Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Environmental Exposure Fracking Gases Health Effects Health Surveys Hydraulic Fracturing Natural Gas Respiratory Health Skin Disorders Water Supply
• ISSN:
  0091-6765
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Connecticut ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Pennsylvania ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  21-26
• Volume:
  123
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063677
• Citation:
  Environ Health Perspect 2015 Jan; 123(1):21-26
• Contact Point Address:
  P.M. Rabinowitz, University of Washington School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, 1959 NE Pacific St., F551 Health Sciences Center, Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
• Email:
  peterr7@uw.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Health Perspectives
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:63671d4f87cd18c54feb91f8bab1842768ed780bd41bbc9c57ae4aed80538251156b257b1bb6a823c7bc8b37537664e4949c314b7aaa6cef5aa71843104211aa
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222239/cdc_222239_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 947.25 KB ]