Does living near a fracking site make asthma worse
Living near fracking sites may make asthma worse for many of those who suffer from the respiratory condition, a new study suggests.
Fracking is a controversial process in which water, sand and chemicals are pumped deep into the ground at high pressure to extract hard-to-reach pockets of natural gas.
The unconventional natural gas development process [fracking] has numerous environmental impacts that could affect health, said lead researcher Dr. Brian Schwartz. He is a professor of environmental health sciences, epidemiology and medicine at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
The list of impacts includes noise, vibration, strong odors, air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, heavy truck traffic, conversion of rural areas to industrial ones and stress, he said.
Many of these can also affect asthma symptoms, Schwartz added. For example, asthma is known to be worsened by air pollution, odors and stress, all of which increase in areas with fracking, he said.
I cannot say which impact may be causing asthma exacerbation. But, I can say there are multiple biologically plausible ways this could happen. Our two primary hypotheses are air pollution and stress, he added.
Schwartz said its difficult to give advice on what exposures to avoid, since its not known which of these is the most important one.
Also, the study didnt prove that fracking exposure causes asthma to worsen, just that there seems to be an association.
Advice for how to minimize sleep disruption versus stress versus air pollution versus noise versus odors are all different, Schwartz said. So, I think all we can do is to advise asthma patients in these areas is to be very vigilant about worsening of symptoms and have early discussions with their doctors.
One energy industry representative said there were flaws in the study.
HealthDay
