Environmental groups seek results of Pitt cancer studies by Karen Mansfield, Jun 3, 2023, Observer Reporter
Environmental health groups are seeking an update on the status of a pair of studies about fracking and health issues, after those studies were OK’d by the state Department of Health more than three years ago.
Five groups – the Center for Coalfield Justice, Environmental Health Project, Mountain Watershed Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, and FracTracker Alliance – have started a petition calling on the DOH and researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health to provide the public with an update of the studies and to report the results or let Southwestern Pennsylvania communities know when those results will be available.
More than 315 people have signed the petition as of Friday.
In November 2019, Gov. Tom Wolf allocated $3 million for a pair of studies to explore the potential health impacts of oil and gas development after families impacted by Ewing sarcoma and other rare forms of cancer asked that the state investigate whether shale gas development played a role in those rare cancers.
An emailed statement from the DOH on Friday said, “The studies conducted by the University of Pittsburgh under contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Health on the health effects of hydraulic fracturing in southwest Pennsylvania are nearing conclusion and the results will be shared in a public forum.”
Pffft! I expect they’re busy fudging the data and chatting with Alberta and BC Health Medical Officers of Health, AER and BCER on slicker ways to lie and say: “Frac’ing is perfectly safe, it improves public health and the environment and didn’t cause the cancer(s) that killed your kids; grieving parents have a perception problem. We suggest mental health treatment and brainwashing by the American Petroleum Institute and Canada’s Association of Petroleum Producers.”
Since 2008, dozens of children and young adults have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma and other forms of cancer in Washington, Greene, Fayette and Westmoreland counties.
In the Canon-McMillan School District, there have been at least six cases of Ewing sarcoma.
Pitt’s studies, called PA Health and Environmental Studies, encompassed eight counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland. It looked to determine if there are any links between fracking and the high number of childhood cancers, and to explore any relationship between fracking and an increased risk of asthma and poor birth outcomes.
Through September 2022, Pitt provided quarterly reports of the studies on its website.
In October, representatives from DOH and Pitt pulled out of a public forum organized by CCJ and the other environmental groups to discuss the studies, saying the studies were ongoing and no data was yet available to share publicly.
Instead, DOH set up an online questionnaire to solicit feedback and answer questions for two weeks after the Oct. 5 meeting was held.
Lisa DePaoli, communications manager for CCJ, said the organization was told by DOH to expect a public meeting in the first week of June, but that has been pushed back and she hasn’t been told when a meeting will be held.The longer the frac-enablers delay, the longer frac’ers can keep poisoning us.
She said residents deserve a status update.Industry can’t allow any truth out on how sick frac’ing makes us or how badly it pollutes air, water, land, food …
“As a researcher, I understand things get pushed back,” said DePaoli. “But people just want an update.”
Refer also to:
… As documented in more than 100 studies, toxic air pollution accompanies fracking. …
Deadly pollution everywhere frac’ers frac:
NW of Calgary.
Study: Increased cancer risk for oil patch workers and neighbours
Pennsylvania: Frac’ing under investigation following surge of rare cancer cases
Pennsylvania: Greene County leads state in child cancer admissions
Ewing sarcoma: Frac’ing vs Public Health. Are oil & gas industry-funded health studies trustworthy?
… The work is being underwritten by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the oil and gas industry. …
Image below with comments thanks to Bob Donnan of Pennsylvanian:
Above source: https://hei-energy.org/about/sponsors
Would you trust oil and gas companies to be honest and “balanced” about what caused your child’s cancer, notably if your family lives in a frac’d community?
Colorado study shows toxic chemicals up to 2,000 feet from frac sites; Benzene (carcinogen), toluene (neurotoxin, notably damages the brain in children) and ethyltoluenes found at up to **10 times** recommended levels 500 feet from frac operations. “Secret exposure to chemicals that our own EPA reports as a potential hazard to human health is unconscionable.”
Radioactive frac waste piling higher and higher; Groundwater used by families showing significant increases in radium. Montana regulator, DEQ, trying to increase radiation limit for frac waste up four times, four times more than allowed in any other state.
Washington County PA: Family members tell state to ‘fix’ cancer study. How many cancers/deaths in Alberta caused by frac/oil industry chemicals & pollution?
New peer-reviewed, published study by Lisa McKenzie et al, U Colorado School of Public Health: Childhood cancer linked to nearby oil and gas activity; People ages 5-24 diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia more likely to live in areas with a high concentration of oil and gas activity
Promised Frac Prosperity for All? Albertans (frac’d more than anywhere else in Canada) face longer wait times for cancer surgery that rank among worst in Canada, report says
Environmental causes of childhood cancers ‘grossly underestimated.’ In Canada, toxic chemicals used by oil and gas industry are exempt under CEPA (1999)
Yale School of Public Health: Fracking Linked to Cancer-Causing Chemicals; Pennsylvanians Against Fracking Call on Governor Wolf to Implement Statewide Moratorium on Fracking
Elevated Cancer risks surround oil & gas drilling. Fracking is bad for your health says Israel Health Ministry official; Frac flowback stage causes greatest air pollution; WORLD-WIDE STUDY: One in three strokes caused by air pollution
New Study Confirms Fracking Wastewater Is Cancer-Causing. “Barium and Strontium were elevated in frac flowback water exposed cells.” Encana and Alberta government testing showed barium & strontium doubled in Ernst’s water after Encana’s illegal aquifer fracing
“What is the acceptable risk for increased risk for childhood cancer? It’s zero.”
Two new peer-reviewed studies published after Florida significantly increases toxic chemicals allowed dumped in waterways: 1) Chemicals used in fracking, other gas, oil operations increase risk of miscarriages, reduced male fertility, prostate cancer, birth defects, preterm birth by disrupting hormones; 2) Lit review shows increased risk of negative reproductive effects from exposure to fracking, other oil, gas extraction activities, especially for miscarriages, reduced semen quality, prostate cancer, birth defects, preterm birth
Prevent Cancer Now calls out AER’s Health Fraud! “The AER has no jurisdiction for human health, and Alberta is famed for a chill against the medical community linking ill health to petrochemicals.”
Pennsylvania Study Links Fracking to Health Hazards in Fetuses, Infants, Young Children: 35.1% more cancer in children ages zero to four in heavily frac’d counties
Study: Toxic Chemicals, Carcinogens at Levels Far Exceeding Federal Limits Near Frac Sites, Will almost certainly lead to cancer increase in surrounding areas
“It looks like fracking has unearthed an unbargained for and serious cancer risk in peoples’ homes.” John Hopkins study links radon levels in Pennsylvania homes to fracking: “These findings worry us”
Why so much frac fraud? Why is Health Canada hiding frac hazards to drinking water? Why publicly release pathogen harms, but not frac hazards and harms?
Fort Chipewyan rare cancer cases cry out for study; Fort Chipewyan councillor latest resident diagnosed with rare cancer, ‘How can this keep happening?’
Air Pollution and Cancer Spikes linked in Alberta; Alberta’s Oil Legacy: Bad Air and Rare Cancers, Sickening carcinogens now saturate Industrial Heartland, study finds
Hormone-disrupting chemicals found in ground and surface water at fracking sites, Peer reviewed study of fracking sites in Garfield County Colorado finds chemicals linked to infertility, birth defects and cancer
Several families taking Baytex (Alberta oilsands company) to court over toxic emissions; Buyout packages allegedly silence Albertans struck with industry-related cancer
Worldwide cancer cases expected to soar by 70% over next 20 years; The mysterious decline in female life expectancy
2012: Kimberly Mildenstein, mother of three trying to survive in an Alberta frac field, attends Mountain View County councillor Paddy Munro’s frac presentation, “Crimes against humanity.”
Slide from Ernst presentations