135
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. J. Soeder, Fracking and the Environment,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59121-2_8
Chapter 8
Impacts to Human Health and Ecosystems
Quite a few people have been convinced for some time that fracking has detrimental
impacts on both ecosystems and human health. While this may indeed be so, like
most issues related to fracking and the environment, the questions are complicated
and rigorous data are difficult to find. No one can positively say anything one way
or the other. The body of research literature is growing, but most of the “health
risks” described so far are based on anecdotal stories of people or animals getting
sick, breaking out in unexplained rashes, or experiencing other health problems that
appear to coincide with the fracking of nearby shale wells. In a situation similar to
air, water, and landscapes, risks to ecosystems and human health come from a wide
variety of sources, and fracking is only one of many. Sorting this out has been an
enormous challenge.
Human health threats are assumed to be mostly from frack chemicals, but these
risks are especially hard to characterize because sources, release mechanisms, transport, types of exposures, and toxicology of the potential chemicals involved are both
complex and poorly understood. In terms of likely threats to terrestrial and aquatic
ecosystems, shale development and fracking activities may introduce invasive species, cause habitat fragmentation, and contaminate water and air. Open impoundments on drill pads for supply water or produced water may attract wildlife, and
drilling fluid, cuttings, and chemical residues left behind at well sites may contaminate water resources (Soeder and Kent 2018).
8.1 Human Health
People can be exposed to substances during conventional or unconventional oil and
gas operations that have potential health risks, such as toxic chemicals or hazardous
vapors. While some of these threats may be associated with hydraulic fracturing in
particular, the risk potential for human health varies during different phases of
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. J. Soeder, Fracking and the Environment,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59121-2_8
Chapter 8
Impacts to Human Health and Ecosystems
Quite a few people have been convinced for some time that fracking has detrimental
impacts on both ecosystems and human health. While this may indeed be so, like
most issues related to fracking and the environment, the questions are complicated
and rigorous data are difficult to find. No one can positively say anything one way
or the other. The body of research literature is growing, but most of the “health
risks” described so far are based on anecdotal stories of people or animals getting
sick, breaking out in unexplained rashes, or experiencing other health problems that
appear to coincide with the fracking of nearby shale wells. In a situation similar to
air, water, and landscapes, risks to ecosystems and human health come from a wide
variety of sources, and fracking is only one of many. Sorting this out has been an
enormous challenge.
Human health threats are assumed to be mostly from frack chemicals, but these
risks are especially hard to characterize because sources, release mechanisms, transport, types of exposures, and toxicology of the potential chemicals involved are both
complex and poorly understood. In terms of likely threats to terrestrial and aquatic
ecosystems, shale development and fracking activities may introduce invasive species, cause habitat fragmentation, and contaminate water and air. Open impoundments on drill pads for supply water or produced water may attract wildlife, and
drilling fluid, cuttings, and chemical residues left behind at well sites may contaminate water resources (Soeder and Kent 2018).
8.1 Human Health
People can be exposed to substances during conventional or unconventional oil and
gas operations that have potential health risks, such as toxic chemicals or hazardous
vapors. While some of these threats may be associated with hydraulic fracturing in
particular, the risk potential for human health varies during different phases of