Hormone-disrupting chemicals found in water at fracking sites
▻http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-fracking-health-20131217,0,5154343.story
Water samples collected at Colorado sites where hydraulic fracturing was used to extract natural gas show the presence of chemicals that have been linked to infertility, birth defects and cancer, scientists reported Monday.
The study, published in the journal Endocrinology, also found elevated levels of the hormone-disrupting chemicals in the Colorado River, where wastewater released during accidental spills at nearby wells could wind up. [...]
The process [of fracking] is exempt from some regulations that are part of the Safe Drinking Water Act, and energy companies do not have to disclose the chemicals they use if they consider that information a trade secret. [...]
Over the last three years, researchers have assessed more than 700 chemicals that could be used in the fracking process and estimated that about 100 are known or suspected EDCs [endocrine-disrupting chemicals]. [...]
Research into fracking’s possible effects on public health is in its early phase, and Nagel and other scientists said the study was a first step that warranted follow-up work