Fracking, Health, and the Environment: More Bad News

By Betsy Todd, MPH, RN, CIC, AJN clinical editor

U.S. EPA / via Wikimedia Commons U.S. EPA / via Wikimedia Commons

Last month, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Concerned Health Professionals of New York released the third edition of their Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking. This document summarizes more than 500 peer-reviewed studies on hydraulic fracturing (fracking),  along with many government and investigative journalism reports.

Fracking involves drilling into the earth and injecting a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals into the rock at high pressure to release the gas inside. There is extensive evidence to demonstrate health risks, environmental damage, and contributions to climate change caused by this practice.

The compendium is intended for policy makers, researchers, journalists, and the public. Specific fracking-related problems identified in this body of literature include the following:

  • Public health impacts, including respiratory disease and congenital abnormalities
  • Air pollution
  • Water contamination
  • Soil contamination and its effects on agriculture
  • Radioactive releases
  • Inherent engineering problems
  • Occupational health and safety hazards
  • Impacts from fracking-associated infrastructure, including noise, light, and diesel pollution
  • Earthquakes and seismic activity
  • Climate change (primarily from methane leaks)

[…]

2016-11-21T13:01:42-05:00December 2nd, 2015|Nursing, nursing perspective, Public health|3 Comments
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AJN’s June Issue: Fracking, Assessing Sleep in Teens, Preventing CAUTI, More

AJN0613.Cover.3rd.inddAJN’s June issue is now available on our Web site. Here’s a selection of what not to miss.

Fracking hazards. Though we’re moving into summer, our cover does not depict a jar of fresh, local honey. It is a photograph of Washington County, Pennsylvania, resident Jenny Smitzer, holding a jar of contaminated tap water that turned that color af­ter natural gas drilling began in 2005 above her farm. Even the best water filter jug can’t purify this. Eleven U.S. states currently engage in natural gas hydrofracking (“fracking”), and eight more are either considering or preparing for this method of gas drilling.

For an in-depth look at the potential health hazards caused by fracking, such as air pollution, working hazards, and water pollution, see our Environments and Health article, “Fracking, the Environment, and Health.” If you’re reading AJN on your iPad, you can listen to a podcast interview with the authors by clicking on the podcast icon on the first page of the article. The podcast is also available on our Web site.

Most teens get far less than the nine hours of sleep a night they require, which could affect their mental and physical health. An understanding of sleep physiology is essential to helping nurses better assess and manage sleep deprivation in teens. “Assessing Sleep in Adolescents Through a Better Understanding of Sleep Physiology” provides an overview of sleep physiology, describes sleep changes […]

2016-12-17T14:39:29-05:00May 24th, 2013|Nursing|0 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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