by: hina alam, the canadian press
vancouver — a new study has found homes close to where fracking was used to extract natural gas in british columbia have higher levels of certain organic pollutants, which may lead to short- and long-term health effects.
elyse caron-beaudoin, lead author and a professor in the department of health and society at the university of toronto, scarborough, said researchers took water and air samples from the homes of 85 pregnant women in the peace river area of b.c. for one week.
pregnant women were recruited for the study because of the potential negative health effects of living close to natural gas wells using fracking, including higher rates of preterm births, low birth weight and heart malformations, she said.
fracking is a process that injects fluids deep underground to release natural gas.
the study, published in the journal science of the total environment this week, measured a number of different chemicals in the homes of the pregnant women and compared the results with the general canadian population to see if there were any differences, she said.
researchers found that the amount and proximity of natural gas wells to the home were linked to higher levels of certain chemical contaminants, they said a news release.