Fact sheet about exposing children to hydraulic fracturing

Yesterday an impacted Butler County, PA resident reported that not only has her tap water been contaminated; not only has her family physician told her that members of her family show signs of arsenic poisoning — but now the creek nearby has foamy, sudsy water.  Rex Energy has fracked and now is flaring; the heat was so intense that, in combination with terrible chemical smells, she said it forced her family to stay indoors in the otherwise lovely weather.  She, like so many impacted parents, worries for her children.

Below is a step towards stronger involvement from the medical community in paying attention to the risks children, in particular, are exposed to in relation to the life-cycle impacts from high-volume slickwater hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

“The Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSU) Network encourage families, pediatricians, and communities to work together to ensure that children are protected from exposure to environmental hazards. Children are more vulnerable to environmental  hazards. They eat, drink, and breathe more than adults on a pound for pound basis.  Research has also shown that children are not able to metabolize some toxicants as well as adults due to immature detoxification processes.”

Here is a fact sheet for health care professionals on the dangers of exposing children to fracking and natural gas activity.

Thanks to Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water for sharing this fact sheet.