by Barbara Minton
(Health Secrets) The potential dangers of fracking for oil and natural gas have engendered much heated discussion. On one side of the debate, those with financial interests claim fracking is safe and nothing has shown the contrary. On the other side, the environmentalists cite fracking as badly contaminating the surrounding water supply and threatening the very foundation of the earth itself. Now solid evidence is beginning to trickle in, and it is looking like the environmentalists have it right. A new study has found an association between the density and proximity of natural gas wells within a 10-mile radius of the residence of the mother, and the prevalence of birth defects in the newborn.
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The scientists, who noted that birth defects are a leading cause of neonatal mortality, examined associations between maternal residential proximity to natural gas development, and birth outcomes in a retrospective cohort study of 124,842 births occurring between 1996 and 2009 in rural Colorado.
They scanned for anomalies in fetal growth and pre-term birth, and for a variety of birth defects.
The researchers found the prevalence of congenital heart defects increased from 1.0 to 1.3 (an increase of 30 percent) in the group with the most exposure to natural gas development. They also found the prevalence of neural tube defect increased from 1.0 to 2.0 (an increase of 100 percent) in the group most exposed to natural gas development. Other findings included significant elevations in endocardial cushion defect, and pulmonary valve atresia and stenosis.
Exposure to natural gas development was negatively associated with preterm birth, and positively associated with fetal growth, though the magnitude of association was small. No correlation was noted between exposure and development of oral clefts.
“Fracking causes babies to be deformed – the more we learn about fracking, the worse it gets,” said Gary Wockner, the director of the Clean Water Action Program in Colorado. He was speaking to the enviro-business news site Ecowatch.com when commenting on the research outcome. Wockner noted that this study is the first to assess data from a population centered in an area where fracking is intense.
“If you live near a fracking site and you want to have a healthy baby, you should consider moving,” he said.
What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang word used to describe hydraulic fracturing, a procedure that creates fractures deep down in the earth in rocks and rock formations by injecting water, sand and chemicals into cracks to force them to break open. The larger the cracks, the more oil and gas is able to flow out of the formation and be extracted for use.