Creating a "Frack-as": Physician Group Calls for Halt on Hydrofracking

Physicians and public health advocates met in Washington, DC, earlier this month calling for an immediate stop to hydraulic fracturing (aka “Fracking”), a controversial natural gas extraction method in which water and toxic compounds are pressure-injected underground to release trapped gas.

Fracking has been on the rise in recent years, particularly in the Northeast, where massive gas deposits are sequestered under shale plates.

Health concerns include: leaching of carcinogens and neurotoxins from spent fracking fluid into public water, release of subterranean heavy metals and radioactive elements, and air pollution. That’s on top of ecosystem damage and potential geologic disruptions.

Science on fracking’s health impact is sorely lacking. There are reports of unusual illness patterns in fracked regions, but no systematic registries or epidemiologic studies to quantify risks.

“I am very concerned that we are leaping before we are looking,” said Jerome Paulson, MD, of George Washington University, at the day-long summit sponsored by Physicians, Scientists & Engineers for Healthy Energy (PSEHE), an independent non-profit. He and others called for a nationwide moratorium on fracking until comprehensive safety studies have been done.