Children living near Pennsylvania fracking sites are at a heightened risk of leukemia -specifically Acute Lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)- due to consistent exposure to toxic carcinogens.
The process includes injecting cancer linked chemicals and radioactive materials underground, which frequently seep into local drinking water and release volatile organic compounds into the air.
Fracking wastewater and fracking fluids often percolate into ground water because half of Pennsylvania residents near the sites use private residential wells, so they are at higher risks of consuming these chemicals.
Unconventional oil and gas wells release hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. Benzene, a known carcinogen directly linked to leukemia, is frequently emitted during drilling operations.
The risk is particularly severe for children who were exposed in utero (while in the mother’s womb) and during early childhood.
The prevalence of leukemia in children who live near fracking sites
Children who live close to fracking sites in Pennsylvania have a higher risk for the most common form of childhood cancer, according to a new study.
Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health used the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry, along with state data on unconventional oil and gas drill sites, to determine that children born within two kilometres, or 1.24 miles, of an active well site were two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia between the ages of two and seven.
The study was published in the journal “Environmental Health Perspectives”. It looked at 405 children diagnosed with that type of leukemia between 2009 and 2017 and included 2,080 controls matched by birth year.
Dr. Cassandra Clark, a post-doctoral fellow at the Yale School of Public Health and co-author of the report, said that the magnitude of the elevated risk observed was striking but was consistent after accounting for a variety of socio-economic, demographic, and biological factors that could potentially be underlying this association.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is one of the most common childhood cancers, which is why the researchers chose to look at it. Additionally, a known cause is benzene, a chemical released by oil and gas drilling activities into both air and water.
The five year survival rate in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia is high, standing at 90%.
Unconventional gas development is also referred to as fracking, which is a part of the overall process that objects water with chemicals at high pressure into shale rock formations deep underground to release oil and gas.
Water that returns to the surface often includes those chemical additives, along with long-buried naturally occurring toxins and radiological materials.
More than 10,000 unconventional natural gas wells were drilled and cracked in Pennsylvania between 2002 and 2017. The Department of Environmental Protection has reported more than 1,000 spills in that period, along with fielding about 4,000 residential well water complaints between 2005 and 2014.
Many who live in rural areas rely on water from private wells, about one-third of which are within 2 kilometres of a wellhead.
The natural gas industry maintains it operates under regulations meant to protect public health. The Marcellus Shale Coalition has said the industry’s “top priority” is protecting the health and safety of workers, the environment, and people who live near fracking operations.
One unique aspect of the Yale Research includes tracing potential drinking water exposure.
Dr. Bernard Goldstein, former dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and an expert in environmental causes of childhood leukemia, commended the findings of the study.
Goldstein is not associated with the study, although he has conducted prior research into exposures due to oil and gas wastewater in Pennsylvania.
He says that this particular study looks at a potential problem in ways that include exposure metrics, which are really needed.
He adds that though the factors that contribute to childhood leukemia are complex and still unclear, benzene is the known risk.
The interdisciplinary team of researchers included experts on leukemia and environmental science, as well as hydrogeologists.
In addition to the location of the sites, researchers mapped individual watersheds and determined the flow of water from wellheads to the children’s homes.
They did not survey the families to determine individual sources of drinking water. Still, they say the research shows that a child living within 1.2 miles of a well site, which is within their watershed, could be at a higher risk of exposure through drinking water.
Previous research has shown an association between fracking activities and health impacts, but determining the path to exposure is more difficult.
Dr. Nicole Deziel, a co-author of the study and associate professor at the Yale School of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, said she thinks there are about 50 epidemiological health studies demonstrating increased adverse health outcomes in communities that live near unconventional oil and gas sites.
She thinks it would be very important to understand which exposures or hazards might be driving these associations.
Deziel adds that she wants the study to impact public policy, including regulations on residential setbacks from wellheads and density of drilling sites.
Pennsylvania requires a 500-foot setback from schools and homes. Deziel says it should be 1,000 meters, especially since her findings show greater impacts for children exposed in utero.
Those results, she said, suggested “that that may be a sensitive ‘time window’ which is also consistent with some other studies of other continental exposures.”
