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Study - Children born near fracking wells at higher risk for Leukemia

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  • Study - Children born near fracking wells at higher risk for Leukemia

    Between this and the earthquakes, and the EPA as well as University of Kentucky stjdies earlier this year, it's not looking so hot for the future of fracking.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...leukemia-study
    Children born near fracking wells more at risk for leukemia – study Report looked at over 400 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia out of a sample of 2,500 Pennsylvania children ages two to seven

    Young children living near fracking wells at birth are up to three times more likely to later develop leukemia, a new peer-reviewed study conducted by the Yale School of Public Health finds.

    The alarming report, published on Wednesday in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal, looked at over 400 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia out of a sample of about 2,500 Pennsylvania children ages two to seven. The form of leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children, and though the survival rate is high, it frequently leads to other health problems later in life, like cognitive disabilities and heart disease.


    Hydraulic fracking is the process by which oil and gas are extracted from deep beneath the Earth’s surface, and the number of wells proliferated in the 2000s in Pennsylvania and across the country as the industry boomed. More than 10,000 fracking wells were drilled in Pennsylvania between 2002 and 2017, and about one-third are located within 2km (a little over a mile) of a residential groundwater well, the study states.

    The study found the risk is highest for those living within 2km of a fracking site, and who were exposed in utero. The data accounted for other factors that could influence cancer risk.

    “[Fracking] can both use and release chemicals that have been linked to cancer, so the potential for children living near [fracking wells] to be exposed to these chemical carcinogens is a major public health concern,” said Nicole Deziel, the study’s senior author and an associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health.

    Though mounting evidence suggests a connection between exposure to fracking pollution and health problems, few studies have examined the connection between exposure and childhood cancer. The Yale study is the largest to examine health impacts on children, and the first to use a novel metric that measures exposure to contaminated drinking water and distance to a well. It fills a significant data gap, the authors say.

    The fracking process requires the injection of high amounts of chemical-laden water and sand into the ground, which forces oil and gas into a collection well. Hundreds of chemicals linked to cancer and other health issues may be used in the process, including heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, benzene and radioactive material.

    Local ground and surface water is frequently contaminated through spills or releases of fracturing fluids or wastewaters that percolate into groundwater: Pennsylvania recorded about 1,000 spills and 5,000 state environmental violations between 2005 and 2014, the study states.

    About half the residents in the predominantly rural study counties use wells to draw from groundwater, and residential wells are not subject to federal regulations or monitoring, leaving it up to the user to ensure they are not drinking contaminated water.

    Nearby residents also face exposure to chemicals via air pollution from the fracking process, heavy vehicle traffic and construction.

    The study found children’s risk markedly increases the closer they live to a well. While those within two kilometers face the highest risk, levels were elevated as much as 10km from a well.

    The data comes amid a debate over how far wells should be set from residences. Two kilometers is about 6,500ft, but Pennsylvania only requires a 500ft setback, while some states’ requirement is as low as 150ft. Colorado, one of the largest fracking producers, several years ago enacted a 2,000ft buffer in most cases. But the study’s authors say that’s not enough.

    “Our findings of increased risk of leukemia at distances of 2km or more from [fracking] operations, in conjunction with evidence from numerous other studies, suggest that existing setback distances, which may be as little as 150ft, are insufficiently protective of children’s health,” said Cassie Clark, a study co-author and post-doctoral associate at the Yale Cancer Center.

    “We hope that studies like ours are taken into account in the ongoing policy discussion around [fracking well] setback distances.”

  • #2
    Time to invest in children's hospitals in Oklahoma.
    "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Gondwanaland View Post
      Between this and the earthquakes, and the EPA as well as University of Kentucky stjdies earlier this year, it's not looking so hot for the future of fracking.

      https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...leukemia-study
      I doubt that research into the increased incidences of childhood leukaemia will have much effect on those who advocate fracking.

      As has been shown over and over again [and not just in the USA] when money speaks the law and, in this instance, ethical concerns are invariably silenced.
      "It ain't necessarily so
      The things that you're liable
      To read in the Bible
      It ain't necessarily so
      ."

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      Porgy & Bess, DuBose Heyward, George & Ira Gershwin

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      • #4
        Seems like a stereotypical example of where government rules and regulations are needed to prevent private enterprises having these negative social impacts. That doesn't seem a very libertarian thing to want, so I'm surprised to see you posting this thread Gondwanaland.
        "I hate him passionately", he's "a demonic force" - Tucker Carlson, in private, on Donald Trump
        "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism" - George Orwell
        "[Capitalism] as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of evils. I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy" - Albert Einstein

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Starlight View Post
          Seems like a stereotypical example of where government rules and regulations are needed to prevent private enterprises having these negative social impacts. That doesn't seem a very libertarian thing to want, so I'm surprised to see you posting this thread Gondwanaland.
          Nope. The government's sole job is to protect its citizens from malicious harm. There's nothing wrong with allowing citizens recourse against companies that are harming them and their children. Libertarians fully believe in the protection of persons and property from invasion by other parties. This would be such a case (a very clear violation of NAP). That's about as libertarian as you can get. Sounds like yet again the New Zealander has no clue what libertarianism is, as usual.

          Indeed, under the current system, the inept EPA is basically the only party that can effectively and universally sue for air and water pollution. Removing that government monopoly and allowing those harmed by such pollution would see a swifft change in business behaviors because it would seriously affect their bottom line.
          Last edited by Gondwanaland; 08-18-2022, 07:46 AM.

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          • #6
            I hope they can find some viable workaround. States like mine (PA) need the jobs and revenue, and the country needs the oil and gas.

            But sick and dead kids is not an acceptable price.
            Geislerminian Antinomian Kenotic Charispneumaticostal Gender Mutualist-Egalitarian.

            Beige Federalist.

            Nationalist Christian.

            "Everybody is somebody's heretic."

            Social Justice is usually the opposite of actual justice.

            Proud member of the this space left blank community.

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            Justice for Ashli Babbitt!

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            Arrest Ray Epps and his Fed bosses!

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            • #7
              Originally posted by NorrinRadd View Post
              I hope they can find some viable workaround. States like mine (PA) need the jobs and revenue, and the country needs the oil and gas.

              But sick and dead kids is not an acceptable price.
              Yeah, right now it's sounding not great for fracking. Even here in Colorado we pushed some serious setback requirements for fracking operations but now it sounds as if we'd need to triple those at the very least to be remotely safe.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Gondwanaland View Post
                Removing that government monopoly and allowing those harmed by such pollution would see a swifft change in business behaviors because it would seriously affect their bottom line.
                So you want those affected to sue after the fact, when the damage is already done, rather than the government to mandate preventative rules?

                I'm assuming that your thinking is that this will stop companies in future who are considering doing fracking from doing it, given they know they will be eventually sued by those affected? It seems to me that is naive, because a lot of business decisions are far more short-term than that - there would be plenty of time for those who get rich from the fracking to leave the company and take their money with them, many years before the the damage the company did to children becomes apparent and the company is sued for it. The people making the decisions to frack are unlikely to care about financial consequences that far in the future which are highly likely to be borne by others and not themselves.

                If there's one thing selfish rich people are really good at, it's running out the back door with all the money and leaving others to face the consequences of their actions.
                "I hate him passionately", he's "a demonic force" - Tucker Carlson, in private, on Donald Trump
                "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism" - George Orwell
                "[Capitalism] as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of evils. I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy" - Albert Einstein

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                • #9
                  This passage is slightly confusing:

                  About half the residents in the predominantly rural study counties use wells to draw from groundwater, and residential wells are not subject to federal regulations or monitoring, leaving it up to the user to ensure they are not drinking contaminated water.

                  Nearby residents also face exposure to chemicals via air pollution from the fracking process, heavy vehicle traffic and construction.

                  The study found children’s risk markedly increases the closer they live to a well. While those within two kilometers face the highest risk, levels were elevated as much as 10km from a well.

                  The data comes amid a debate over how far wells should be set from residences. Two kilometers is about 6,500ft, but Pennsylvania only requires a 500ft setback, while some states’ requirement is as low as 150ft. Colorado, one of the largest fracking producers, several years ago enacted a 2,000ft buffer in most cases. But the study’s authors say that’s not enough.


                  I assume the "wells" in the last two paragraphs are fracking wells, not the "residential" wells in the first paragraph, but it's not completely clear.
                  Geislerminian Antinomian Kenotic Charispneumaticostal Gender Mutualist-Egalitarian.

                  Beige Federalist.

                  Nationalist Christian.

                  "Everybody is somebody's heretic."

                  Social Justice is usually the opposite of actual justice.

                  Proud member of the this space left blank community.

                  Would-be Grand Vizier of the Padishah Maxi-Super-Ultra-Hyper-Mega-MAGA King Trumpius Rex.

                  Justice for Ashli Babbitt!

                  Justice for Matthew Perna!

                  Arrest Ray Epps and his Fed bosses!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Starlight View Post
                    So you want those affected to sue after the fact, when the damage is already done, rather than the government to mandate preventative rules?
                    No, I want those affected to sue the moment such pollution begins to occur.


                    I'm assuming that your thinking is that this will stop companies in future who are considering doing fracking from doing it, given they know they will be eventually sued by those affected?
                    Hitting their bottom line tends to do more to inspire change in a business than government wrist-slapping for violations.

                    It seems to me that is naive,
                    It seems to me you are naive.

                    because a lot of business decisions are far more short-term than that - there would be plenty of time for those who get rich from the fracking to leave the company and take their money with them, many years before the the damage the company did to children becomes apparent and the company is sued for it. The people making the decisions to frack are unlikely to care about financial consequences that far in the future which are highly likely to be borne by others and not themselves.

                    If there's one thing selfish rich people are really good at, it's running out the back door with all the money and leaving others to face the consequences of their actions.
                    They're good at it because the government aids and abets them, and then bails them out as 'too big to fail' when they screw up.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by NorrinRadd View Post
                      This passage is slightly confusing:

                      About half the residents in the predominantly rural study counties use wells to draw from groundwater, and residential wells are not subject to federal regulations or monitoring, leaving it up to the user to ensure they are not drinking contaminated water.

                      Nearby residents also face exposure to chemicals via air pollution from the fracking process, heavy vehicle traffic and construction.

                      The study found children’s risk markedly increases the closer they live to a well. While those within two kilometers face the highest risk, levels were elevated as much as 10km from a well.

                      The data comes amid a debate over how far wells should be set from residences. Two kilometers is about 6,500ft, but Pennsylvania only requires a 500ft setback, while some states’ requirement is as low as 150ft. Colorado, one of the largest fracking producers, several years ago enacted a 2,000ft buffer in most cases. But the study’s authors say that’s not enough.


                      I assume the "wells" in the last two paragraphs are fracking wells, not the "residential" wells in the first paragraph, but it's not completely clear.
                      Yes, it's talking about fracking, not residential groundwater wells, bit of sloppy language there by the journalist.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        What's weird is that earlier this year, I read that the fracking industry was in a tailspin. That existing shale locations were running dry and there wasn't funding and/or permission for exploration. But now I am reading both, that the industry is in trouble, and that the industry is growing.

                        https://www.technologyreview.com/202...jobs-industry/

                        https://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...-Analysis.html

                        Beats me which way is up.

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                        • #13
                          National Groundwater Association

                          IPAA (Scroll down for the list of studies and their links)

                          The NGA is interesting because it finds that fracking isn't causing contamination in Northern Pennsylvania where the article in the OP claims a link to wells near fracking sites.

                          The trouble is, that's way too vague. I can't find the study itself so I don't know how they were controlling for other variables. But since Pennsylvania has methane in its water, I kinda want a pretty rigorous control so we figure out what is actually happening and fix it rather than just guess, put people out of work and let kids continue to get sick.
                          "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

                          "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Ronson View Post
                            What's weird is that earlier this year, I read that the fracking industry was in a tailspin. That existing shale locations were running dry and there wasn't funding and/or permission for exploration. But now I am reading both, that the industry is in trouble, and that the industry is growing.

                            https://www.technologyreview.com/202...jobs-industry/

                            https://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...-Analysis.html

                            Beats me which way is up.
                            They aren't contradictory that I can tell. Rising oil prices could set off higher profits even when jobs are being cut.

                            "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

                            "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

                            My Personal Blog

                            My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

                            Quill Sword

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Gondwanaland View Post
                              Between this and the earthquakes, and the EPA as well as University of Kentucky stjdies earlier this year, it's not looking so hot for the future of fracking.

                              https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...leukemia-study
                              Something tells me that this will be like the various studies concerning cancer and Three Mile Island.

                              I'm always still in trouble again

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