What are the health threats to you and your community?
Mounting evidence suggests that fracking can pose a significant risk to public health.
This highly industrial activity includes the use of toxic chemicals that have been found in air and water nearby drilling activities. In addition, residents nearby operations can suffer negative side-effects such as hearing loss and sleeplessness as a result of exposure to the noise and light pollution associated with this industrial activity.
The Southwest PA Environmental Health Project (SWPA-EHP) provides guidelines on how you can protect yourself from the health impacts of fracking. The site covers topics like:
- How to reduce environmental exposures
- How to keep a health diary
- How to get in touch with EHP’s Family Nurse Practitioner
- How to identify stress and/or manage it
SWPA-EHP also has several screening and assessment forms to evaluate a client’s environmental conditions and health concerns.
If you believe your health problems could stem from environmental exposures and you have no health care provider (or if you do not feel you are getting the help you need), schedule an appointment with EHP’s Family Nurse Practitioner.
In addition, Concerned Health Professionals of New York released a compendium of scientific, medical and media findings that demonstrated the risks and harms of fracking from between the years 2011 and 2014. This resource was a huge strategy in how the movement was able to achieve a moratorium in the state of New York a few years back.
There are several things you can do if drilling activity has not yet started in your area:
- If you use well water, EHP strongly recommends obtaining a baseline test before drilling begins. A baseline water test will tell you what is in your water before your environmental conditions change. And even if drilling has already begun, it is still important to get a baseline water test if you live within three miles of drilling. Please see our Water section for more information.
- Consider using a health diary to keep track of changes in your health (for example, headaches, skin rashes, nosebleeds, etc.) and your environment. If you have animals, keeping track of information pertaining to their health and fertility can also be useful. See SWPA-EHP’s Staying Healthy section for more information.