FRACKING IMPACTS ON HUMANS
The primary sources of plastic production is the fracking of natural gas or the refinement of oil in the United States. In 2020, more than 500,000 fracking wells were drilled in the United States, according to the USEPA.
Hydraulic fracking wells utilize large quantities of water, chemicals, and sandblast into impermeable rock formations at pressures high enough to crack the rock, allowing the trapped gas and oil to flow to the surface. The USEPA has identified more than one thousand chemicals utilized in the various hydraulic fracking wells throughout the United States, many of which are hazardous to humans and the environment.
From that same report and additional studies in the following years, USEPA found evidence of groundwater impacts. Surface chemical spills reaching groundwater and local drinking water resources, unmitigated releases of gases and liquids into the environment, and disposal of hydraulic fracturing wastewater in unlined pits resulted in groundwater contamination. This mismanagement of hazardous chemicals offers direct and harmful exposure to workers and those in the outlying communities.
Fracking communities often report smog created by the air emissions from the hydraulic fracturing, which releases toxic air contaminants such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene; fine particulate matter (PM2.5); hydrogen sulfide; silica dust; and nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. These reports note the human health effects of air emissions, including respiratory and neurological problems, cardiovascular damage, endocrine disruption, congenital disabilities, cancer, and premature mortality. Gas and oil industry workers face the risks from on-site exposure to higher concentrations of toxic chemicals and other airborne materials, including silica, which can lead to lung disease and cancer when inhaled.
Additional human health exposures result from fracking waste containing salts, chemicals, and radionuclides, often spread on roads or dumped into drainage areas for ease of disposal.
Communities living near fracking facilities have been studied for health risks due to the USEPA reports for air, water, and soil contaminants. Environmental health experts note that these studies have found “that living near fracking wells increases the risk of premature births, high-risk pregnancies, asthma, migraines, fatigue, nasal and sinus symptoms, skin disorders, and heart failure; and laboratory studies have linked chemicals used in the fracking fluid to endocrine disruption—which can cause hormone imbalance, reproductive harm, early puberty, brain and behavior problems, improper immune function, and cancer.”
PLASTIC PRODUCTION IMPACTS ON HUMANS
Gas and oil are transported via pipeline, trucks, and rail from the fracking and oil refineries to the production facilities. Then, superheated water is used to “crack” the methane (CH4) molecule into ethane, ethylene, propane, and other products used to make a variety of polymers. Additives are mixed in to form the plastic resins, again involving chemical substances that are hazardous to humans and the local environment.
There are significant claims that the petrochemical additives (bisphenol A, lead, brominated flame retardants) “can cause nervous system disorders, reproductive impairments, developmental problems, cancer, and genetic impacts. These conditions result from inhalation, ingestion, and dermal absorption.”
Plastic production often utilizes toxic chemicals such as 1,3-butadiene, benzene, styrene, toluene, ethane, propylene, and propylene oxide. Again, these chemicals “are often carcinogenic and found in higher concentrations along ‘fence line’ communities adjacent to industrial sites.”
Once the plastic resins are produced, they are shaped into plastic flakes, pellets, and nurdles—today’s most common trading form of feedstock plastic in the U.S. market. Both recycled content and virgin petrochemical forms (plastic resins) are shaped this way to serve as direct feedstock in most plastic injection and pressure-forming facilities.
At these plastic resin production facilities, human contact with the material is inevitable. Again, the areas of concern lie in hazardous chemical spills and air emissions from petrol-chemicals. In 1990, the USEPA reported to Congress that it “found spilled pellets had become ‘ubiquitous’ in the environment.” The report blamed the “oil and gas industry, pellet manufacturers, and transporters as possible culprits in the spills.” These spilled plastic pellets impact the natural wildlife in the area of these plants, but as the supervisors order cleanups, the workers come in direct contact with the plastic pellets too.
In 2020, following these pellet spills, NPR noted, “New research suggests more than 230,000 tons of [plastic] pellets enter the ocean each year, contaminating the water and sickening birds, fish, and other wildlife.”
Plastic chemical spills from rail transport cars exacerbate human impacts. Recent examples include the train derailment in East Palestine (2023), which released vinyl chloride, benzene, and butyl acrylate, and the overheated railcar that released gaseous styrene in Addyson, Ohio (2024). Amy Townsend-Small [a University of Cincinnati professor], expected the amount of toxic chemicals transported via rail to increase “because of what she believes is a lack of federal oversight.”
Next Blog: The Impacts of Plastics on Humans: PFOA and PFAS
Untangling Plastics: The Missing Link to Mitigating Climate Change