Billions of pounds of toxic, cancer-causing chemicals released by fracking wells

Some of the effects of being nearby fracking operations include cancer and developmental defects, messed-up sexual health, induced seismic activity around the area, and a whole lot more.

A report released on Thursday by Environment America offers raw numbers to help lessen ambiguity and build a more solid picture. These are based on industry-reported data that going back for more than 10 years.

The report concludes that frackers have used billions of pounds of carcinogenic chemicals in at least 137,000 wells from 2005 to 2015. These include:

• 5 billion pounds of hydrochloric acid, a caustic acid
• 1.2 billion pounds of petroleum distillates, which can irritate the throat, lungs and eyes; cause dizziness and nausea; and can include toxic and cancer-causing agents
• 445 million pounds of methanol, which is suspected of causing birth defects

Since these numbers are according from the industry, this means that not necessarily all of them affect drinking water. But some chemicals have still made their way to private wells. As an example, Pennsylvania officials said they have found 260 instances of private well contamination from fracking just in the past decade. But, Environment America stated that this information is a “severe” underestimation.

The report also said that in 2014 alone, new fracking wells released 5.3 billion pounds of methane into the atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is, by some estimates, 86 times more potent than carbon over a 20-year timeframe. According to the researchers, this is equivalent to the emissions from 22 new coal-fired plants.

Source: Grist