Dataset Information

Associations between Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Nasal and Sinus, Migraine Headache, and Fatigue Symptoms in Pennsylvania.

ABSTRACT: Unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) produces environmental contaminants and psychosocial stressors. Despite these concerns, few studies have evaluated the health effects of UNGD.We investigated associations between UNGD activity and symptoms in a cross-sectional study in Pennsylvania.We mailed a self-administered questionnaire to 23,700 adult patients of the Geisinger Clinic. Using standardized and validated questionnaire items, we identified respondents with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), migraine headache, and fatigue symptoms. We created a summary UNGD activity metric that incorporated well phase, location, total depth, daily gas production and inverse distance-squared to patient residences. We used logistic regression, weighted for sampling and response rates, to assess associations between quartiles of UNGD activity and outcomes, both alone and in combination.The response rate was 33%. Of 7,785 study participants, 1,850 (24%) had current CRS symptoms, 1,765 (23%) had migraine headache, and 1,930 (25%) had higher levels of fatigue. Among individuals who met criteria for two or more outcomes, adjusted odds ratios for the highest quartile of UNGD activity compared with the lowest were [OR (95% CI)] 1.49 (0.78, 2.85) for CRS plus migraine, 1.88 (1.08, 3.25) for CRS plus fatigue, 1.95 (1.18, 3.21) for migraine plus fatigue, and 1.84 (1.08, 3.14) for all three outcomes together. Significant associations were also present in some models of single outcomes.This study provides evidence that UNGD is associated with nasal and sinus, migraine headache, and fatigue symptoms in a general population representative sample. Citation: Tustin AW, Hirsch AG, Rasmussen SG, Casey JA, Bandeen-Roche K, Schwartz BS. 2017. Associations between unconventional natural gas development and nasal and sinus, migraine headache, and fatigue symptoms in Pennsylvania. Environ Health Perspect 125:189-197; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP281.

SUBMITTER: Tustin AW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5289909 | biostudies-other | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Associations between Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Nasal and Sinus, Migraine Headache, and Fatigue Symptoms in Pennsylvania.

Tustin Aaron W AW Hirsch Annemarie G AG Rasmussen Sara G SG Casey Joan A JA Bandeen-Roche Karen K Schwartz Brian S BS

Environmental health perspectives 20160825 2

<h4>Background</h4>Unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) produces environmental contaminants and psychosocial stressors. Despite these concerns, few studies have evaluated the health effects of UNGD.<h4>Objectives</h4>We investigated associations between UNGD activity and symptoms in a cross-sectional study in Pennsylvania.<h4>Methods</h4>We mailed a self-administered questionnaire to 23,700 adult patients of the Geisinger Clinic. Using standardized and validated questionnaire items, we ...[more]

PMID: 27561132

Similar Datasets

Project description:Recent research has shown relationships between health outcomes and residence proximity to unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD). The challenge of connecting health outcomes to environmental stressors requires ongoing research with new methodological approaches. We investigated UOGD density and well emissions and their association with symptom reporting by residents of southwest Pennsylvania. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 104 unique, de-identified health assessments completed from 2012-2017 by residents living in proximity to UOGD. A novel approach to comparing estimates of exposure was taken. Generalized linear modeling was used to ascertain the relationship between symptom counts and estimated UOGD exposure, while Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis (TITAN) was used to identify associations between individual symptoms and estimated UOGD exposure. We used three estimates of exposure: cumulative well density (CWD), inverse distance weighting (IDW) of wells, and annual emission concentrations (AEC) from wells within 5 km of respondents' homes. Taking well emissions reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, an air dispersion and screening model was used to estimate an emissions concentration at residences. When controlling for age, sex, and smoker status, each exposure estimate predicted total number of reported symptoms (CWD, p<0.001; IDW, p<0.001; AEC, p<0.05). Akaike information criterion values revealed that CWD was the better predictor of adverse health symptoms in our sample. Two groups of symptoms (i.e., eyes, ears, nose, throat; neurological and muscular) constituted 50% of reported symptoms across exposures, suggesting these groupings of symptoms may be more likely reported by respondents when UOGD intensity increases. Our results do not confirm that UOGD was the direct cause of the reported symptoms but raise concern about the growing number of wells around residential areas. Our approach presents a novel method of quantifying exposures and relating them to reported health symptoms.

Dataset Information

Associations between Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Nasal and Sinus, Migraine Headache, and Fatigue Symptoms in Pennsylvania.

Publications

Associations between Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Nasal and Sinus, Migraine Headache, and Fatigue Symptoms in Pennsylvania.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets