Assessment and longitudinal analysis of health impacts and stressors perceived to result from unconventional shale gas development in the Marcellus Shale region

Ferrar, Kyle; Kriesky, Jill; Christen, Charles; Marshall, Lynne P.; Malone, Samantha; Sharma, Ravi; Michanowicz, Drew R.; Goldstein, Bernard D.

doi:10.1179/2049396713y.0000000024

Cited by 113 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Similarly, researchers have reported that higher levels of stress in these areas are linked to an individual's belief that their health has been affected (Ferrar et al, 2013). Higher scores on the DASS-21 for participants in the CSG area would support this hypothesis.…”

Section: Discussion Of Depression Anxiety and Stress (Dass-21 Outcosupporting

confidence: 61%

“…As previously mentioned, the expansion of UNGD has caused community residents, as well as medical and public health professionals, to voice concerns about the environmentally-related health impacts of natural gas (Ferrar et al, 2013;McDermott-Levy, Kaktins, & Sattler, 2013;McKenzie, Witter, Newman, & Adgate, 2012;Queensland Government, 2013d While a number of studies call for more research into the potential for adverse health outcomes associated with UNGD, there appears to be a dearth of reporting on this issue in the literature. More specifically, there are significantly fewer studies specific to CSG than to other unconventional gas resources; hence, the need to expand the review to the broader category of UNGD.…”

Section: Primary Environmental Setting: Erhis Related To Csgmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In addition to the environmental factors (e.g., air quality, noise, traffic), UNGD has the potential to affect stress levels, contribute to financial concerns, and can be perceived to have a variety of impacts on humans (Ferrar et al, 2013). The rapid changes that a community undergoes with UNGD can often contribute to the above societal impacts (Steinzor et al, 2013), where the literature focuses on symptomatology, risk perception, and governance or regulation.…”

Section: Societal Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmentally-related health impacts of coal seam gas development: An impact assessment approach in Queensland, Australia

Werner¹

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Queensland, Australia has a large mining industry and has been extracting coal seam gas (CSG) on an increasingly larger scale in recent years. CSG is a type of unconventional natural gas.Historically, concerns associated with unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) have come from areas where types of UNGD other than CSG are predominant. While shale gas and CSG development are not identical, there is an underlying theme of community concern about the potential environmentally-related health impacts (ERHIs) of such development. A problem for Australia is that there is a dearth of research on ERHIs associated with CSG, in particular, in Queensland.The purpose of this research was to explore the ERHIs associated with CSG development in Queensland and suggest areas for further research. This exploratory study used three environmental settings: a CSG setting and two alternative settings (i.e., coal mining and rural/agricultural). The CSG study area served as the primary setting, as this is a fairly new industry and there is as yet no substantial body of knowledge to fully understand what the health impacts may be. Data concerning CSG gas well numbers, as well as other 'macro' environmental determinants, such as production figures, were used to assess increased environmental activity within these areas.Subjective health outcomes in residents were assessed through a self-report survey. This was to determine any differences in health and psychosocial impacts of environmental change between the respondents living in each environmental setting. In addition to the subjective health outcomes data, objective health outcomes were examined through hospital admissions data for the period 1995-2011 for all three areas. These data were compared between the three areas for differences in hospitalisation rates over time in relation to various conditions according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) chapters. Hospital admissions data were also examined in conjunction with CSG well development activity data in the CSG area to gather evidence of CSG health impact using limited available environmental data.The findings showed that the self-reported health status of respondents in the CSG area did not differ compared to the two other study areas; however, respondents did self-report higher levels of environmental distress for some measures. There were significant increases in all-age hospitalisation rates over time in the CSG area compared to the coal mining and rural areas for 'All-cause' hospitalisation rates (RR: 1.01; 95% CI: 1.00-1.01 compared to the coal mining area and RR: 1.01; 95% CI: 1.01-1.02 compared to the rural area). Significant increases were also ii seen for admission rates within ICD chapters related to 'Blood/immune' diseases (RR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.05-1.12 compared to the coal mining area and RR: 1.05; 95% CI: 1.01-1.09 compared to the rural area) and 'Eye' diseases (RR: 1.04; 95% CI: 1.02-1.06 compared to the coal mining area and RR: 1.04; 95% CI: 1.02-1.06 compared to the rural area)....

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Section: Discussion Of Depression Anxiety and Stress (Dass-21 Outcosupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Primary Environmental Setting: Erhis Related To Csgmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Societal Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmentally-related health impacts of coal seam gas development: An impact assessment approach in Queensland, Australia

Werner¹

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“…Faculty at CHEC enlisted a small group of graduate students eager to engage with health issues related to drilling in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania. Their projects covered various aspects of the industry, including visually documenting impacts, air and water quality monitoring, and public health surveys (Ferrar, Kriesky, et al 2013;). The FracTracker.org blog was used to contextualize CHEC research with drilling maps and data analysis.…”

Section: Filling Data Gaps: Fractracker Alliancementioning

confidence: 99%

The Civic Informatics of FracTracker Alliance: Working with Communities to Understand the Unconventional Oil and Gas Industry

2017

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Unconventional oil and gas extraction is fueling a wave of resource development often touted as a new era in US energy independence. However, assessing the true costs of extraction is made difficult by the vastness of the industry and lack of regulatory transparency. This paper addresses efforts to fill knowledge gaps taken up by civil society groups, where the resources produced in these efforts are used to make informed critiques of extraction processes and governance. We focus on one civil society organization, called FracTracker Alliance, which works to enhance public understanding by collecting, interpreting, and visualizing oil and gas data in broad partnerships. Drawing on the concepts of civic science, we suggest that the informational practices of civil society research organizations facilitate critical knowledge flows that we term "civic informatics." We offer three case studies illustrating how different characteristics of civic informatics enable public-minded research as well as build capacity for political mobilizations.Finally, we suggest that empirical studies of civic informatics and its facilitators offer insights for the study of "engaged" Science and Technologies Studies (STS) that seek to generate new models of science at the intersection of praxis and theory.

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“…Among the more common self-reported symptoms are fatigue, irritation of the upper respiratory tract, burning eyes and shortness of breath. 10,11 However, there are no formal epidemiologic studies or health impact assessments that support or refute these observations, or that consider vulnerable populations. [1][2][3][4] Physicians should be aware of the sources of confusion over fracking that have contributed to public distrust and the social amplification of risk.…”

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confidence: 99%

Shale gas development in Canada: What are the potential health effects?

Bharadwaj

Goldstein

2014

CMAJ

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Assessment and longitudinal analysis of health impacts and stressors perceived to result from unconventional shale gas development in the Marcellus Shale region

Abstract: Exposure-based epidemiological studies are needed to address identified health impacts and those that may develop as unconventional natural gas extraction continues. Many of the stressors can be addressed immediately.

Cited by 113 publications

References 18 publications

Environmentally-related health impacts of coal seam gas development: An impact assessment approach in Queensland, Australia

Environmentally-related health impacts of coal seam gas development: An impact assessment approach in Queensland, Australia

The Civic Informatics of FracTracker Alliance: Working with Communities to Understand the Unconventional Oil and Gas Industry

Shale gas development in Canada: What are the potential health effects?

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