Researchers in Pennsylvania published a series of studies late Tuesday showing that children who live near fracking operations are roughly five to seven times more likely to develop lymphoma than kids whose homes are at least five miles away from drilling sites.
Released by the University of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the studies also found a “strong link” between fracked gas development and “severe exacerbations, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations for asthma in people living within 10 miles of one or more wells” producing gas.
While the studies weren’t designed to establish a causal connection between fracking and cancer or asthma, they add to the large and growing body of literature indicating that oil and gas operations pose a significant threat to public health.
The publicly funded research out Tuesday suggests there are “no associations” between proximity to fracking activities and childhood leukemia or brain and bone cancers.
But the results “indicated that children who lived within one mile of a well had approximately five to seven times the chance of developing lymphoma, a relatively rare type of cancer, compared to children who lived in a place with no wells within five miles,” the researchers wrote. “Data suggests that those who lived closer, especially in areas with greater intensity of unconventional natural gas development activities, had the highest risk.”
“For perspective, the incidence of lymphoma is, on average, 0.0012% in U.S. children under 20 years of age,” they added. “Our study estimates that rate would be 0.006% to 0.0084% for children living within one mile of a well.”