Contents Notes |
Introduction -- Opening session. Opening remarks ; Introducing the workshop theme ; Framing the workshop ; Health impact assessment for shale gas extraction -- Geographic footprint of shale gas extraction. Fracturing : accessing shale and tight gas ; Geographic footprint -- Occupational health and community impacts. NIOSH field effort to assess chemical exposures in oil and gas workers : health hazards in hydraulic fracturing ; Community impacts of natural gas development and human health ; Economic and community impacts of gas shale in Pennsylvania -- Air quality. Air pollution emissions from shale gas development and production ; Air quality impacts of natural gas operations in Texas ; Air pollution exposure and risk near unconventional natural gas drill sites : an example from Garfield County, Colorado ; Air quality respondent -- Water quality. Potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on water resources ; Hydraulic fracturing, water resources, and human health ; EPA study plan on the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources : approach to study potential health impacts -- Sustainable energy. Sustainable energy for all? ; Sustainable energy for all : ensuring health throughout the energy production and use life cycle -- Research opportunities : research community. Summary of presentations -- Research opportunities : federal representatives. Environmental health and hydraulic fracturing ; Perspectives on agency research activities. Natural gas extraction from shale formations, which includes hydraulic fracturing, is increasingly in the news as the use of extraction technologies has expanded, rural communities have been transformed seemingly overnight, public awareness has increased, and regulations have been developed. This report is a summary of a workshop convened in 2012 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine to discuss the human health impact of shale gas extraction through the lens of a health impact assessment. It examines the state of the science regarding shale gas extraction, the direct and indirect environmental health impacts of shale gas extraction, and the use of health impact assessment as a tool that can help decision makers identify the public health consequences of shale gas extraction. |