Study links fracking operations to worsening heart failure

Reuters Health - 07/12/2020 - The process of extracting natural gas from the ground using fracking appears to increase the risk of hospitalization for people in the community already suffering from heart failure, according to a new study that used Pennsylvania data and is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. A research team led by Dr. Tara McAlexander of Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health in Philadelphia found that when workers began extracting natural gas using the fracking process -- in which millions of gallons of water laced with various chemical are injected into the ground to break up rock and open up gas pockets -- hospitalizations for heart failure patients rose by 80%. Clearing the area where the drills would be set up was associated with a 70% increase in risk, and processing and transporting the gas through pipelines was associated with a 62% risk elevation, compared to the risk in heart failure patients who ha...

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Posted on 7 December, 20208 December, 2020