"...McKenzie said the results also pointed to potentially significant respiratory and neurological effects. For children, this could mean more headaches, sore throats and asthma. "Children are more sensitive to all of these pollutants, whether traditional ozone, dust or particulates caused by hydrocarbons leaking out of the wells or the diesel trucks carrying the materials," added Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, whose goal is to protect public health and the environment.
Lunder called the new findings "sobering" and emphasized the need for further study. "There are an incredible number of other industrial chemicals involved," she said. But research is complicated by the fact that these chemicals tend to vary from well to well, with names and quantities not always disclosed by the fracking company.
But, not everyone is convinced of the associated airborne risks. "It is important to put this paper into context," said Tom Amontree, executive vice president of the America's Natural Gas Alliance. "Not a single human being's health was evaluated here."
"Natural gas companies take seriously the health and safety of their workers and the communities in which they operate," he added.
Overall, of the 353 identifiable chemicals that result from natural gas production, a quarter are likely carcinogens and 37 percent affect the endocrine system, according to another study published in September.
Theo Colborn, the lead researcher on that study, is also a co-author on a paper published earlier this month that concluded that tiny doses of endocrine disruptors, which also live in pesticides and plastics, can have profound impacts on the human body..."
