In 2017, EHP published Health Symptoms in Residents Living Near Shale Gas Activity in Preventive Medicine Reports which addresses acute symptoms, such as: headache, throat irritation, stress/anxiety, cough, and shortness of breath, to name a few. The symptoms that EHP has documented in our client population are supported by a growing body of scientific literature.
Chronic symptoms require a certain period of lag time to develop and affect enough in a population to attribute it to a particular source. A complication with shale gas development is the number of toxic chemicals in use, the uncertainty of what they do in combination, and the variability in dosage across populations. Some studies are beginning to show correlations, but it will take time to get a full assessment of impacts.
PA-based studies can be found in EHP’s Compilation of UNGD Health Studies Using Pennsylvania Data.
Many studies can be found in the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking (Unconventional Gas and Oil Extraction), which is in its 5th edition, updated in March 2018.
Studies can be accessed in Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy’s (PSE) Repository for Oil and Gas Energy Research (ROGER).
Additional information and research references can be found in the Shale Gas Extraction and Public Health A Resource Guide updated yearly in November by the PA League of Women Voters.