skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Coughing, Headaches, Fatigue: Is Fracking to Blame?

play audio
Play

Monday, December 3, 2012   

COLUMBUS, Ohio - As hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" spreads throughout the Buckeye State, so do questions about its affects on health. The process involves using water and sand mixed with chemicals to fracture shale formations and unlock reservoirs of oil and gas.

The president of the Greene County Medical Association, Dr. Deborah Cowden, says throughout the fracking process, hazardous air emissions are released from multiple sources. They can cause respiratory problems, blood disorders and neurological symptoms, she explains.

"That can includes headache, horrible fatigue, people fainting. Fainting is a huge issue - it means your brain has shut down because of the level of toxicity that is hitting it. You can get convulsions. You can get temporary limb paralysis."

Cowden cites a study from the Colorado School of Public Health that found air pollution caused by fracking may contribute to acute and chronic health problems for those living near natural-gas drilling sites. Cowden has been traveling the state to discuss the findings and says stronger regulations are needed to protect the public's health.

Emissions from fracking waste, which is often stored underground in injection wells, are also of concern. Mount Gilead nurse Donna Carver says more than a dozen permitted wells have been drilled near her home in Morrow County. As a concerned citizen, she has done her own research and says she was physically affected while visiting one particular injection site.

"My nose started to burn, my eyes got really itchy, my skin got itchy, I had difficulty breathing, I got very nauseous, I started vomiting, I had a horrible headache and for about three or four days afterwards I was still sick from the effects of whatever I was exposed to."

More than 170 injection sites are active in Ohio. Carver contends they are not properly monitored or regulated. She is among the Ohioans who are fighting permits for new injection wells in their communities.

As part of a two-year monitoring project, the Ohio EPA says early data collected near a shale-gas drilling well shows the air remains clean.

The Colorado study is available at ScienceDirect.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021