Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES
Volume 125, Issue 2, Pages 189-197Publisher
US DEPT HEALTH HUMAN SCIENCES PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1289/EHP281
Keywords
-
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [U19 AI106683, R21 ES023675, ES07141]
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Degenstein Foundation
- National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship
- PCI
- National Institutes of Health [U19 AI106683, R21 ES023675, ES07141]
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Degenstein Foundation
- National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship
- PCI
Ask authors/readers for more resources
BACKGROUND: Unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) produces environmental contaminants and psychosocial stressors. Despite these concerns, few studies have evaluated the health effects of UNGD. OBJECTIVES: We investigated associations between UNGD activity and symptoms in a crosssectional study in Pennsylvania. METHODS: We mailed a self-administered questionnaire to 23,700 adult patients of the Geisinger Clinic. Using standardized and validated questionnaire items, we identified respondents with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), migraine headache, and fatigue symptoms. We created a summary UNGD activity metric that incorporated well phase, location, total depth, daily gas production and inverse distance-squared to patient residences. We used logistic regression, weighted for sampling and response rates, to assess associations between quartiles of UNGD activity and outcomes, both alone and in combination. RESULTS: The response rate was 33%. Of 7,785 study participants, 1,850 (24%) had current CRS symptoms, 1,765 (23%) had migraine headache, and 1,930 (25%) had higher levels of fatigue. Among individuals who met criteria for two or more outcomes, adjusted odds ratios for the highest quartile of UNGD activity compared with the lowest were [OR (95% CI)] 1.49 (0.78, 2.85) for CRS plus migraine, 1.88 (1.08, 3.25) for CRS plus fatigue, 1.95 (1.18, 3.21) for migraine plus fatigue, and 1.84 (1.08, 3.14) for all three outcomes together. Significant associations were also present in some models of single outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that UNGD is associated with nasal and sinus, migraine headache, and fatigue symptoms in a general population representative sample.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available