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Saturday, September 13th, 2014

People Who Live Near Fracking More Likely To Become Sick, Study Finds

Author:     EMILY ATKIN
Source:     Think Progress
Publication Date:     September 10, 2014 at 12:23 pm
 Link: People Who Live Near Fracking More Likely To Become Sick, Study Finds
Stephan:   If you live near a Fracking operation pay close attention to this report, and act occordingly. I am not surprised at its findings. Just another example of how corporate profits trump wellness. It is the hallmark of our culture.
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/MATT ROURKE

CREDIT: AP PHOTO/MATT ROURKE

People living close to natural gas wells in southwestern Pennsylvania are more than twice as likely to report respiratory illnesses and skin problems than those living farther away, according to a new study from Yale University.

Dr. Peter Rabinowitz, a former Yale School of Medicine professor who now teaches at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health, got the results by randomly surveying 180 households with 492 people in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Washington County is in the heart of the Marcellus Shale, one of one of America’s fracking hotspots – and arguably the epicenter of fracking-related pollution complaints and industrial accidents.

Of those surveyed, Rabinowitz found that 39 percent of people living less than 0.6 miles from a gas well reported upper-respiratory problems like sinus infections and nosebleeds, compared to just 18 percent of people living more than 1.2 miles away. For skin problems like rashes, 13 percent living close to the wells reported irritation, compared to only 3 percent living further away who said the same.

Rabinowitz said that his […]

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