"No evidence" that fracking can be done without threatening human health: Report

"No evidence" that fracking can be done without threatening human health: Report

A review by doctors and scientists of more than 1,700 studies concludes that the industry poses a threat to air, water, climate, and human health.

A group of doctors and scientists have released a report highlighting that 84 percent of studies published from 2009-2015 on the health impacts of fracking conclude the industry causes harm to human health.


The report, published by two groups, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Concerned Health Professionals of New York, sites an earlier literature review that found 69 percent of studies on water quality during the same time period found evidence of or potential for fracking-associated water contamination, and 87 percent of studies on air quality found "significant air pollutant emissions" associated with the industry.

The new report looks at 1,778 articles from peer-reviewed medical or scientific journals, investigative reports by journalists, and reports from government agencies on fracking. Fracking is another name for hydraulic fracturing, which is a process of extracting natural oil and gas from the Earth by drilling deep wells and injecting liquid at high pressure.

"When we first started issuing this report in 2014, we predicted we'd eventually see health impacts based on what we saw happening to air and water," Sandra Steingraber, a professor of Environmental Studies and Sciences at Ithaca College and one of the lead authors of the study, told EHN. "Now we're beginning to see actual evidence of human harm."

Other recent literature reviews have also found links between fracking and a range of health effects including preterm births, high-risk pregnancies, asthma, migraine headaches, fatigue, nasal and sinus symptoms, and skin disorders.

The new report also examines studies on the natural gas industry's impact on climate change, and finds that due to methane leaks, natural gas extraction could be contributing to global warming even more than coal.

"It's now clear that swapping out coal plants for natural gas is at best a lateral move," Steinraber said. "And it's beginning to look like it might even be more like getting out of the frying pan and into the fire."

Steingraber, a member of Concerned Health Professionals of New York, said that in 2014 there were only 400 studies that met the criteria for the report.

"The state of New York banned fracking in 2014 on the basis of those 400 studies," she said. "As of April, there were 1,778 studies. So we have more than 4 times the amount of evidence as we did then, and the evidence that fracking cannot be done safely has only been reinforced by the new literature."

About 20 percent (355) of the studies evaluated in the report were published in 2018. An analysis of recent data conducted by the environmental advocacy group FracTracker found that 90 percent of studies published from 2016-2018 on the health impacts of fracking found a positive association with harm or potential harm.

“Literally in our backyards”

Credit: Mark Dixon/Flickr


Meanwhile, industry officials maintain that the practice is safe.

Last week, more than 100 groups, 800 individual Pennsylvania residents, and a few celebrities sent a public letter to Gov. Tom Wolf urging the state to investigate potential links between the industry and many cases of rare childhood cancers in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and to stop issuing new drilling permits in the meantime.

In response, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a pro-industry group, sent the Governor its own letter stating that there are no conclusive links between childhood cancer and fracking, and urging him to "reject [the] ridiculous request" to halt fracking until health impacts can be studied further.

Steingraber pointed out that much of the data included in her organization's new report comes from Pennsylvania, since fracking has been underway in the state for more than a decade and is taking place in more densely populated regions than fracking hubs like Colorado, Wyoming and Texas. Pennsylvania is the country's second-largest natural gas producer behind Texas.

"What makes fracking different from any other industry I've studied in public health is that there's no industrial zone," she said. "It's taking place literally in our backyards, and unfortunately some of the best evidence for both polluting emissions and emerging health crises is coming out of Southwestern Pennsylvania."

Representatives from Physicians for Social Responsibility and Concerned Health Professionals of New York traveled to Harrisburg today to present their findings to Pennsylvania lawmakers.

Steingraber will be among them, and said she hopes to draw attention to Wolf's recent support for a full ban on fracking in the Delaware River Basin on the eastern side of the state.

"Gov. Wolf's support of a fracking ban in the Delaware River Basin is essentially an admission that fracking is inherently dangerous," Steingraber said. "I give him credit for that wise decision, but kids in Southwestern Pennsylvania are supposed to have the same rights as kids in the eastern part of the state."

"If fracking is too dangerous for the Delaware River Basin," she added, "it's too dangerous for anyone's river basin."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect where the original data came from for the new report.

A dry corn field

Global economic losses from climate change may be far worse than predicted, new study warns

Climate change could slash global income for the average person by 40% if temperatures rise 4C above pre-industrial levels, a new study shows, challenging decades of economic modeling.

Graham Readfearn reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.
Firefighters in full gear fighting a barn fire.

Urban wildfires may expose firefighters to toxic metals like lead and mercury

A new study has found that Los Angeles firefighters who battled January’s urban wildfires had significantly higher levels of mercury and lead in their blood cells than those who fought rural forest fires.

Maggie Astor reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
A large pipe emitting water into a dirty water source.

Texas water fight pits growing cities against each other over groundwater exports

A legal battle in Central Texas reveals rising tensions as booming urban areas seek to secure groundwater supplies by pumping from rural aquifers.

Dylan Baddour reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
a bridge that is lit up at night with wave breaking on a nearby lake shore in foreground.

Tribes exit pipeline negotiations in Michigan over lack of consultation

Seven Indigenous nations in Michigan have walked away from federal talks over a proposed oil pipeline tunnel, citing a lack of meaningful engagement and treaty violations.

Izzy Ross reports for Grist and Interlochen Public Radio.

In short:

  • The tribes oppose Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel project, which would replace part of a 72-year-old pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac, a critical freshwater corridor between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
  • Their withdrawal follows the Army Corps of Engineers’ move to fast-track permitting under President Trump’s energy emergency order, which tribes say dismisses their environmental and legal concerns.
  • Tribal leaders and legal advocates argue that the project threatens water resources and violates both U.S. treaty obligations and international law requiring Indigenous consent.

Key quote:

“Tribal Nations are no longer willing to expend their time and resources as Cooperating Agencies just so their participation may be used by the Corps to lend credibility to a flawed [Environmental Impact Statement] process and document.”

— Letter from seven Indigenous nations to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Why this matters:

Buried beneath the Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron converge, Line 5 has become a flashpoint in the battle over fossil fuel infrastructure, Indigenous sovereignty, and environmental protection. The aging oil and gas pipeline — operated by Canadian energy giant Enbridge — moves millions of gallons of crude and natural gas liquids daily through a region that holds 20% of the planet’s surface freshwater. A proposed tunnel to house a replacement segment beneath the lakebed has drawn fierce opposition from tribal nations, who warn it risks catastrophic spills and continued desecration of sacred territory.

Related: Trump donor’s company set to profit from Michigan pipeline deal

Red and white Dow Chemical logo on a concrete wall next to barren trees and patches of snow.

Dow seeks to replace fossil fuels with nuclear reactors at Texas plastics plant

Dow has applied for federal approval to build small nuclear reactors at its Seadrift, Texas, facility to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce its reliance on natural gas.

Jennifer McDermott reports for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
Person in a yellow vest installing a solar panel

DOE drops solar focus in revamp of student building competition

The U.S. Department of Energy has rebranded its long-running Solar Decathlon as a broader building design event without a competition or emphasis on renewable energy.

Christa Marshall reports for E&E News.

Keep reading...Show less
Offshore wind turbines in a line on a cloudy ocean horizon.

Offshore wind turbines may offer new habitat for key fish species

Some commercial fish like haddock and flatfish are gathering around offshore wind turbines, showing how these clean energy structures might reshape marine ecosystems.

Clare Fieseler reports for Canary Media.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

People  sitting in an outdoors table working on a big sign.

Op-ed: Why funding for the environmental justice movement must be anti-racist

We must prioritize minority-serving institutions, BIPOC-led organizations and researchers to lead environmental justice efforts.

joe biden

Biden finalizes long-awaited hydrogen tax credits ahead of Trump presidency

Responses to the new rules have been mixed, and environmental advocates worry that Trump could undermine them.

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.

Agents of Change in Environmental Justice logo

LISTEN: Reflections on the first five years of the Agents of Change program

The leadership team talks about what they’ve learned — and what lies ahead.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.