'The Harms of Fracking': New Report Details Increased Risks of Asthma, Birth Defects and Cancer

Rolling Stone, March 13, 2018, By Justin Nobel

"'Our examination…uncovered no evidence that fracking can be practiced in a manner that does not threaten human health,' states a blistering 266-page report released today by Concerned Health Professionals of New York and the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group, Physicians for Social Responsibility. Drawing on news investigations, government assessments and more than 1,200 peer-reviewed research articles, the study finds that fracking – shooting chemical-laden fluid into deep rock layers to release oil and gas – is poisoning the air, contaminating the water and imperiling the health of Americans across the country. 'Fracking is the worst thing I've ever seen,' says Dr. Sandra Steingraber, one of the report's eight co-authors, a biologist who has worked as a public health advocate on issues like breast cancer and toxic incinerators. 'Those of us in the public health sector started to realize years ago that there were potential risks, then the industry rolled out faster than we could do our science.' In recent years, the practice has expanded from rural lands to backyards, farms, and within sight of schools and sources of drinking water. 'Now we see those risks have turned into human harms and people are getting sick,' says Steingraber. 'And we in this field have a moral imperative to raise the alarm.' ..."

READ MORE: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/fracking-health-risk-asthma-birth-defects-cancer-w517809

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