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Dispelling the Myths Surrounding Hydraulic Fracturing Part 3 Adapted from a Policy Brief by The Heartland Institute Myth #3 - Hydraulic Fracturing Causes Health Problems - Some activists have claimed the hydraulic fracturing process causes a multitude of health problems, including increased asthma, lower birth weights, higher infant mortality, and increased rates of cancer. However, there is no evidence showing hydraulic fracturing causes such health problems. The following is a brief summary of the research examining these important concerns, grouped by health problem. Asthma - According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the overall rates of those with asthma have decreased from 8.4 to 8.3%. Since hydraulic fracturing is used more often and is used all over the country, one would think asthma rates would be higher and more common over the past decade, but that simply isn’t the case. Not only have fewer people been diagnosed with asthma, but those with asthma are having fewer attacks. The CDC estimates the num- ber of asthma sufferers reporting an attack has fallen from 52.5% in the 2006 - 2010 period, to 46.9% in 2016. Texas, the country’s leading producer of gas and oil and a major center of hydraulic fracturing operations, has the fourth lowest adult asthma rate in the United States. Pennsylvania, another top gas and oil producing state, has the fourth lowest asthma mortality rate, which is even lower than neighboring New York’s, which banned hydraulic fracturing in 2014. Additionally, the hospitalization rates in Pennsylvania decreased from 17.6% in 2004 to 13.4% in 2014 (the most recent year which data is available). This indi- cates a 24% decrease in asthma hospitalization rates, during a period when the number of hydraulically fractured wells in the state increased from zero to more than 7500. Birth Defects, Low Birth Weight, and Infant Mortality - This claim is also without scientific merit. In 2016, the low birth weight rate in the country was at 8.17%, much lower than the previous data from 2006, when the rate was 8.26%. Infant mortality in the United States has also declined. From 2005 to 2013 (the latest year for which data is available), infant mortality fell by 13.1%. In Pennsylvania alone, the infant mortality rate declined 8.8%, while the rate for other birth defects fell or remained stable over the same period. Other gas and oil producing states, such as Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming, also experienced decreases in their infant mortality rates. Cancer - The research on this subject overwhelmingly shows hydraulic fracturing does not cause cancer. Hydraulic fracturing fluid is more than 99% water and sand, with less than 1% containing chemical additives used to control different aspects, from the gel quality of the fluid (thicker fluid will suspend sand better than water), to the fluid’s density. Although some of those chem- icals remain in the ground, the very small amounts of chemical additives in fracturing fluid are too miniscule to impact human health; plus, they are well below groundwater table. Norwegian researchers studied gas and oil workers mixing the fracturing fluids and drilling mud, to see if they would have higher rates of cancer, but discovered the only elevated cancer rates were associated with asbestos exposure, both on-site and off-site, particularly before 1980, when asbestos was commonly used on fracturing sites. The evidence indicates that although use of hydraulic fracturing has increased over the past ten years, the number of cases of asthma, birth defects, and can- cer has decreased. The occurrence of these health issues in major producing states, such as Pennsylvania and Texas, is lower than many states without signif- icant fracturing operations. Myth #4 will discuss the myths sur- rounding hydraulic fracturing and earth- quakes, next month. 7 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JANUARY 2020 G&O U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo.