1. Fracking: Health Effects
By: Taylor Ryan, Corey Hauser, Joshua Lawler and Grace Sanzalone

2. Overview Health impacts of Fracking
Other energy sources and their health impacts:
Petroleum/ Oil- Grace
Coal- Taylor
Nuclear- Corey
Hydropower- Joshua
Conclusion- Are the health impacts of fracking more or less than the other forms of energy discussed?

3. Fracking
Fracking is a combination of advanced hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling.
It has been estimated by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), that the total U.S. gas production from to 2040 will increase 40 percent, with natural gas from shale being the leading contributor. It was also suggested that fracking is the engine in the U.S. energy revolution.

4. Fracking: Health Risks
Air Pollution:
Hydraulic fracturing releases various chemicals into the air leading to various health risks for the public.
Particulate Matter in the air has been seen to cause lung cancer when exposed profusely.
Direct Health Risks:
Hydraulic fracturing has been claimed to cause:
Autism
Respiratory Issues
Cardiovascular Problems
Cancer
Nervous System Impacts
Birth Defects

5. Fracking: Health Issues
The chemicals that are released into the air have been claimed to cause:
Autism
Respiratory infections
Neurological problems
Cardiovascular problems
The chemicals have also been known to cause cancer (BTEX)

6. Petroleum/Oil Petroleum Thick and flammable
Made up of gaseous, liquid, and solid hydrocarbons
High energy density, easy transportability
Has become the world’s leading source of energy since the mid 1950s.

7. Petroleum/Oil
Of the three main fossil fuels – coal, petroleum and natural gas – it could be argued that petroleum is the most versatile.
We are highly dependent on petroleum
Of all the fossil fuels, crude oil may run out first; some studies claim that oil reserves could reach a critical level within a generation, though others disagree.

8. Petroleum/Oil Health Effects
Oil Spills are a very large issue
Greatly effects in marine life.
Spills have caused massive ocean pollution, causing the death of thousands of animals and fishes each year.
Petroleum-fueled transportation is considered one of the causes of global warming.
The production of petroleum creates toxic materials.
If these are improperly disposed, they can leach into the ground and spread harmful chemicals polluting rivers and streams and kill animals.
It can also leach into our water table(drinking water)

9. Petroleum/Oil Health Effects Cont.
Can emit high amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases, which contribute to the greenhouse effect, and lead to global warming.
Environmental pollution is also created by burning petroleum based fuels and its contribution to climate change.
Petroleum in vehicles and machines also leads to high emissions of CO2 and other harmful gases, which can cause respiratory illnesses including asthma and pneumonia.

10. Coal
Over time, innovations and technologies have been created to allow for a rapid increase in the usages of coal.
As coal mining became more developed and used, it also opened up economic opportunities and became mined even more extensively.
Towns in the local surrounding areas thrived immensely off of this form of energy starting the in 18th century.
Coal began to spread to other parts of the country and became a top energy source produced in the United States.

11. Coal: Health Effects Coal mining known to cause: Black Lung
Other chronic respiratory diseases
Coal in China has been seen to be contaminated by fluoride
The coal then contaminated their food, and polluted their air causing:
Dental fluorsis
Osteosclerosis-in skeletal fluorosis
Bone resorption
Bone formation
Emissions from coal-fired power plants in the United States found to be harmful pollutants and in turn cause serious health effects.
Highly contaminated coal with arsenic
Arsenic poisoning in humans
Most of the health effects emitted by coal were found in individuals that had direct contact with this energy source, such as miners or people burning it in their homes.

12. Nuclear Energy
Nuclear Fission is the process of taking a neutron and firing it into a molecule of Uranium 235.

13. Radiation Most prevalent health effect of Nuclear Power
Increases the amount of cancer caused by radiation by about 0.002%.
Much of the controversy over genetic mutations as a result of increased radiation exposure is a misunderstanding.
The risks are much less than the increased risk of cancer
Same risk as delaying pregnancy 2.5 days or men wearing pants an extra 8 hours per year

14. Reactor Accidents/Meltdowns
Nuclear power sites are designed to minimize accidents and the damage of those accidents.
It is estimated that over 10,000 deaths occur each year as a result of air pollution from Natural Gas burning.
Based off of this, and the damaged caused by meltdowns in the past there would have to be 25 meltdowns per year to kill the same number as Natural Gas.

15. Radioactive Waste
Waste disposal that is buried underground from a nuclear waste site is estimated to cause 1 death every 50 years.
Radioactive waste disposal is highly regulated and great precautions are taken to ensure externalities as a result are minimized.

16. Release of Radioactivity
Routine releases of radioactivity from a fuel station is estimated to reduce life expectancy by less than 15 minutes by those within 100 miles of the reactor site.

17. Uranium Mining
Mining uranium to fuel nuclear power plants leaves "mill tailings", the residues from chemical processing of the ore, which lead to radon exposures to the public.
Because Uranium mining releases radon that would have been released in the future anyway, the health effects are essentially none.

18. Hydropower and Hydroelectric Dams
Hydropower is the largest renewable energy source for electricity in the United States.
Hydropower is one of the oldest energy sources
Has been used for thousands of years
Grind Grain
Lumber Mills
Generate Electricity
Overall relies on the water cycle
Dams can convert as much as 90% of available energy into electricity.
Compared to best fossil fuel plants which can only convert about 50%

19. Health Effects of Hydropower
To this day there are no, known health effects of hydropower
Although there is a risk of the dam breaking, and causing the water to be released and rushed down the river. Possibly taking out towns and cities depending on the location of the dam

20. Conclusion
It was determined the health risks of Fracking are less than that of oil and coal. Nuclear and Hydropower offer safer alternatives.
People argue that Fracking takes place too close to their homes while other energy sources are extracted and generated further away.
People believe that this limits risks that are associated with other energy sources.
Our conclusion is that Fracking, while not the most dangerous energy source, is also not the safest when regarding health issues.
We determined coal and oil pose the largest amount of health issues

21. Works Cited
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22. Works Cited Continued