Peace River Valley, in northeastern British Columbia, has become
known in recent years as a place of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas
– "fracking," as it's commonly called. What are the health impacts
related to living near fracking sites where contaminants, including
volatile organic compounds, are released? To try to answer that
question, Élyse Caron-Beaudoin, a postdoctoral researcher at the
Université de Montréal Public Health Research Institute, studied a group
of pregnant women who live in the area. Her results were published this
week in Environment International.
High concentrations of
muconic acid – a degradation product of benzene (a volatile, toxic and
carcinogenic compound) – were detected in the urine of 29 pregnant women
who participated in the pilot study. Their median concentration of
muconic acid was approximately 3.5 times higher in these women than in
the general Canadian population.
In five of the 29
participants, the concentration of muconic acid surpassed the biological
exposure index (BEI), a measure developed by the American Conference of
Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) to protect the health of
people in the workplace. Caron-Beaudoin informed the five women of the
results and communicated with their attending physicians. Guidelines of
acceptable amounts of muconic acid in urine exist only for the
workplace; there are none for the general population.
Not beyond a reasonable doubt
“Although
the levels of muconic acid found in the participants’ urine cannot
prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they were exposed to high levels of
benzene, these results do clearly demonstrate the importance of
exploring human exposure to environmental contaminants in natural-gas
(fracking) regions,” said Marc-André Verner, the lead researcher on the
study. Verner is a professor at Université de Montréal’s School of
Public Health and specializes in toxicological risk assessment.
“Muconic
acid is also a degradation product of sorbic acid, which is often used
as a preservative in the food industry,” said Caron-Beaudoin. “However,
we believe that diet alone is unlikely to explain the concentrations we
found in our participants. A more extensive study needs to be conducted
with additional measures – to test the air and drinking water, for
example – to confirm or refute the results of our pilot study.”
Health hazards of benzene include birth defects
The
health impacts of benzene are well-documented. “High exposure to
benzene during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight, an
increased risk of childhood leukemia and a greater incidence of birth
defects such as spina bifida,” said Caron-Beaudoin. “We were therefore
very concerned when we discovered high levels of muconic acid in the
urine of pregnant women.”
It should be noted that there are
multiple routes of exposure to benzene, including inhaling cigarette
smoke, filling your car’s gas tank, driving, and drinking
benzene-contaminated water.
[...]
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https://www.technologynetworks.com/tn/news/fracking-environmental-contaminants-pregnancy-risk-294185