Natural Gas Development, Public Health, and Protecting the Most

Vulnerable Populations

Carol Kwiatkowski, PhDExecutive Director, TEDX The Endocrine Disruption Exchange

2

Durango Herald June 1, 2012

NPR Morning Edition November 3, 2009

ProPublica September 12, 2011

Inside Climate News March 21, 2012

The New York Times January 21, 2013

Huffington Post February 14, 2013

The Medical News March 19, 2012

The Times-Tribune August 26, 2013 3

Effects of unconventional natural gas development

Image from John Adgate. See Adgate et al. 2014. Potential Public Health Hazards, Exposures and Health Effects from Unconventional Natural Gas Development. Environ Sci Technol: doi:10.1024/es404621d.

4

Presentation Overview

• Natural gas operations• Air pollution

– Sources– Pollutants– Health effects

• Endocrine disruption and prenatal exposure

• Symptoms • What you can do

5

Photo by Robert Donnan

Target formation

Water aquifer

Drill rig

6Animation by Kim Schultz, TEDX

7

Photo by Robert Donnan

Drill rig Buildings

8

9Photo by Robert Donnan

Christmas trees

Frack trucks

Sand trucks

Frack tanks

10

Acids Biocides

Breakers Clay stabilizers

Corrosion inhibitors Crosslinkers

Defoamers Foamers

Friction reducers Gellants

pH control Proppants

Scale control Surfactants

Functional categories of hydraulic fracturing chemicals

Adapted from Colborn T, Kwiatkowski C, Schultz K, Bachran M. 2011. Natural gas operations from a public health perspective. Human & Ecological Risk Assessment 17(5):1039-1056.

Worker pic

11Photo by Robert Donnan

12Photo by Robert Donnan

13

14

Heater Treater

15

16

Produced water tanks

Condensate tanks

Condensates are feedstock for:electronics, pesticides, plastics, shampoo, toys, cell phones, pharmaceuticals, sporting goods, clothes, cosmetics, furniture, computers, cars, detergents, food additives, mattresses, fabrics, household products, pots and pans, athletic equipment, food color, airplanes, candy, food packaging, cleaning products, toothpaste, glass, preservatives, TVs,

carpet, raingear, men’s toiletries, receipts, laundry products, paint, soap, deodorants, metals, shower curtains, baby products, sunscreens

17

Flare

18

Compressor

19

20

21

Drilling chemicalsDrilling pit evaporationFracking chemicalsEvaporation pitsCondensate tanksProduced water tanksSeparators/heater treatersCompressorsVenting and flaringPipelines, valves, pneumaticsGeneratorsLight and heavy trucks

Sources of air pollution

22

Methane (natural gas)Carbon dioxide

Nitrogen oxides (NOx)Volatile organic compounds

Hydrogen sulfideNaturally occurring radioactive material (NORM)

Particulate matter

23Photo by Kevin Dirk

24

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) + Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) + Sunlight = Ozone

Ozone + Particulate Matter = Smog

25

•Shortness of breath, pain when taking a deep breath•Coughing, sore or scratchy throat•Inflamed and damaged airways•Aggravated lung diseases

•Asthma •Emphysema •Chronic bronchitis

•Greater susceptibility to lung infection

Effects of Ozone

US EPA http://www.epa.gov/air/ozonepollution/health.html

26

An Exploratory Study of Air Quality near Natural Gas Operations

•Weekly sampling over one year for VOCs, PAHs, carbonyls and methane

•Independent laboratory analysis of samples

•EPA approved methods: TO-12/ PAMS Protocol; TO-15; TO-11A; TO-13A; M18

Colborn T, Schultz K, Herrick L, Kwiatkowsi C. 2014. An exploratory study of air quality near natural gas operations. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 20(1):86-105.

27

Chemicals Detected in at Least 50% of Samples

Chemical name % Detects

methane, ethane, propane, toluene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, naphthalene

100%

isopentane, crotonaldehyde 90-99%n-butane, isobutane, n-pentane, MEK & butyraldehyde, acetone 80-89%

n-hexane, methylcyclohexane, methylene chloride, phenanthrene 70-79%

m/p-xylenes, fluorene 50-69%

28

Health effect categories Number of chemicals with effects

Brain and nervous system 35Liver and metabolic 33Endocrine system 30Other 29Immune system 28Cardiovascular and blood 27Skin, eye, and sensory organ 25Respiratory 25Kidney 23Genotoxic 23Cancer and tumorigen 18Gastrointestinal 14

Potential Health Effects

29

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)

• Result from incomplete combustion and are also present in petroleum sources, including crude oil and produced water from oil and gas development

• Attach to ultra-fine particles and travel long distances

• Can go from lungs directly into blood stream, can also be ingested

• Are carcinogens • Are endocrine disrupting chemicals

30

Benzo[a]pyrene Naphthalene

What are endocrine disruptors?

Prenatal development is a critical exposure periodEffects can be permanentEffects are seen at extremely low concentrations

31

Hormones are involved in: development, reproduction, thyroid and immune function, intelligence and behavior, metabolism, and more.

Chemicals that affect hormone signaling.

Chemical name % DetectsNaphthalene 100%Phenanthrene 76%Fluorene 52%

* Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene 38%* Benzo[g,h,i]perylene 33%* Dibenzo[a,h]anthracene 33%* Benzo[a]pyrene 24%* Benzo[b]fluoranthene 24%* Benzo[k]fluoranthene 24%* Benzo[a]anthracene 10%* Chrysene 10%

Acenaphthylene 5%

PAHs Detected in Garfield County Air

* Associated with health effects in prenatal exposure studies 32

Effects of Prenatal Exposure to PAHs

•At birth: preterm, low birth weight, and smaller skull circumference (Perera et al. 2004)

•At 3 years old: lower mental development scores (Perera et al. 2006)

•At 5 years old: lower IQ scores (Perera et al. 2009)

• At 7 years old: attention and behavioral problems, metabolic problems and obesity (Perera et al. 2012; Rundle et al. 2012)

33

• BENZENE (in 44% of samples)– Preterm birth, decreased prenatal growth, spina bifida – Sperm abnormalities– Increased asthma, wheeze, respiratory dysfunction,

bronchitis– Immune dysfunction

• TOLUENE (in 100% of samples)– Asthma and other respiratory functions– Immune effects, allergic responses– Cardiovascular disease

34

Other chemicals of concern

Hormone Activity in Surface and Ground Water

Hormone activity was higher in test sites than control sites, where it was nearly absent.

Chemicals used in natural gas operations, some of which were identified at the test sites by another team of researchers, were also hormonally active. Kassotis CD, Tillitt DE, Davis JW, Hormann AM, Nagel SC. 2013. Estrogen and androgen receptor activities of hydraulic fracturing chemicals and surface and ground water in a drilling-dense region. Endocrinology: doi:10.1210/en.2013-1697.

35

124,842 births in 57 rural Colorado counties 1,823 children born with a congenital heart defect

The likelihood of having a child with a congenital heart defect increased linearly with the increasing density and proximity of natural gas wells to the mother’s residence while pregnant.

McKenzie LM, Guo R, Witter RZ, Savitz DA, Newman LS, Adgate JL. 2014. Birth outcomes and maternal residential proximity to natural gas development in rural Colorado. Environ Health Perspect: doi: 10.1289/ehp.1306722

Effects of Prenatal Exposure

Density/proximity of gas wells:

No wells within 10 miles

Lowdensity/proximity

Mediumdensity/proximity

Highdensity/proximity

% Heart Defects 1.3% 1.5% 1.6% 1.8%

36

Shale Gas Development and Infant Health:Evidence from Pennsylvania

• Living within 2.5 km (1.6 miles) of a well led to– 25% increase in babies with ‘low birth weight’– 18% increase in babies born ‘small for gestational age’– 26% increase in APGAR scores below 8

• Effects were larger for lower SES children• Some effects were detected up to 3.5 km (2.2

miles) from the wellhead

37

Hill E. 2013. Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Infant Health: Evidence from Pennsylvania. Cornell University: Working Paper, Charles Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. www.dyson.cornell.edu/research/researchpdf/wp/.../Cornell-Dyson-wp1212.pdf.

Reported symptoms

• Headaches, nausea, upper respiratory irritation, nosebleeds (CO incident database)

• Fatigue, nasal irritation, throat irritation, sinus problems, burning eyes, shortness of breath, joint pain, feeling weak and tired, severe headaches, sleep disturbance (PA survey)

• Stress over health, perceptions of corruption, false information etc. (PA interviews)

38

Challenges to exposure research and treatment

• Need scientifically rigorous studies on health affects and symptoms

• Many symptoms are similar to common ailments (allergies, colds); other symptoms don’t manifest until much later in life (kidney, liver problems)

• Need to measure/model extreme events and mixtures of air pollutants

39

40

How much evidence is enough?

Photo by Robert Donnan

Pits

Flare

41

What you can doEducate yourself: www.tedx.org

42

43

What you can do

• Talk to local legislators –town, county and state– Full disclosure of

chemicals– Monitoring of pollutants– Best practices – and better– Big setbacks

44

• Find a local organization or start one of your own– Collect baseline data if possible

What you can do

45

•Engage the medical community•Take a CME course http://www.psehealthyenergy.org/COURSES

•Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments http://envirn.org/pg/groups/59988/fracking-and-public-health/

•Get medical associations involved

The following associations have told the US EPA to “…adopt the strongest possible standards to reduce harmful emissions..” from the oil and gas industry.

•American Lung Association•American Public Health Association•American Thoracic Society•Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America•Trust for America’s Health

46Photo by Kevin Dirk

Thank youThe staff at TEDX

Arkansas Community Foundation Winslow Foundation

Cornell Douglas Foundation New-Land Foundation

New York Community TrustWallace Genetic Foundation

Many individual donors

www.tedx.org