Fracking Associated with Premature Birth

“Expectant mothers who live near active natural gas wells operated by the fracking industry in Pennsylvania are at an increased risk of giving birth prematurely and for having high-risk pregnancies, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests. …

For his study, Schwartz and his colleagues analyzed data from Geisinger Health System, which covers 40 counties in north and central Pennsylvania. They studied the records of 9,384 mothers who gave birth to 10,946 babies between January 2009 and January 2013. They compared that data with information about wells drilled for fracking and looked at how close they were to the homes of the pregnant mothers as well as what stage of drilling the wells were in, how deep the wells were dug and how much gas was being produced at the wells during the mothers’ pregnancies. Using this information, they developed an index of how active each of the wells were and how close they were to the women.

The researchers found that living in the most active quartile of drilling and production activity was associated with a 40 percent increase in the likelihood of a woman giving birth before 37 weeks of gestation (considered pre-term) and a 30 percent increase in the chance that an obstetrician had labeled their pregnancy “high-risk,” a designation that can include factors such as elevated blood pressure or excessive weight gain during pregnancy. When looking at all of the pregnancies in the study, 11 percent of babies were born preterm, with the majority (79 percent) born between 32 and 36 weeks. ...

While the study can’t pinpoint why the pregnant women had worse outcomes near the most active wells, Schwartz says that every step of the drilling process has an environmental impact. ... “Now that we know this is happening we’d like to figure out why,” Schwartz says. “Is it air quality? Is it the stress? They’re the two leading candidates in our minds at this point.”

summary:

http://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2015/study-fracking-industr...

full paper:

http://www.eenews.net/assets/2015/10/09/document_ew_01.pdf

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Permalink Reply by Barry D on January 27, 2016 at 12:37pm

Paul,

I am still amazed that you are an educated person. Your posts wreak of the temperament of a 14 year old.

Just more mis-information and fear mongering.

Frac Focus was a voluntary informational service put together by the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. It was not set up as a regulatory compliance tool. It's purpose was purely informational.

No one ever forced or pressured the site to be more available in different formats. In fact the change was done voluntarily. There are no barriers that's a lie that you are spreading. The people that operate the site have worked diligently to make the information available to all.

But as anyone who has ever worked with a computer knows (and I assume that includes you) information can be formatted in any number of ways. Then making that information in other formats is time consuming and at times has a cost.

It's just to bad that the looney tune spoiled brats that you cite didn't get what they wanted when they requested it. Probably poor potty training.

This is just your (putrid) attempt to discredit a valuable resource because it tells the truth and destroys one of the major false arguments of the environmental left; that argument being that the elements of "frac fluid" are secret and kept secret purposely by the oil and gas industry.

If you are serious and diligent the information can be found on the site. Further, you can contact the site operators with questions, which I have. I have always found the people at the site very helpful and forthcoming. I doubt you have ever contacted them yourself and you are a despicable person for unfairly attacking their character.

In fact 23 states and the EPA rely on Frac Focus for information.

You are a very sad person to continually spread these lies.

Permalink Reply by paleface on January 27, 2016 at 2:30pm

 Barry D ,Paul is jealous the gas company's and the land owners are working together and doing something real good for people all over the world and Paul is not part of it. Paul just needs to buy some land in the hot spots and he can join in.

Permalink Reply by Barry D on January 27, 2016 at 2:52pm

paleface,

there is an element of jealousy in the environmental leftist movement. In particular when it comes to oil and gas development.

Remember, most of these people believe in the re-distribution of wealth.

Most of these folks are broke and jealous and want some of that redistribution to come to them.

Also, remember they want some of that re-distribution to come from landowners. You are right they are jealous of the relationship between landowners and the oil and gas companies. That is because since most of these leftists are broke they don't own property. So they are jealous of landowners. The leftists do not believe in private property rights.

Good call on the jealousy angle.

Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on January 27, 2016 at 9:26pm

Then the American Cancer Society must be lying as they place low birth weight directly upon smoking! 

Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on January 27, 2016 at 9:29pm

For liberals like you Paul the cause is due to all of us hillbillies inbreeding and now making more money than college grad political science majors!

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