New study: Tiny doses of chemicals used in drilling and fracking have big health effects

This is not news to those of us who live in the gas patch.

Tiny Doses of Gas Drilling Chemicals May Have Big Health Effects
Authors of new study encourage more low-dose testing of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, with implications for the debate on natural gas drilling.
By Lisa Song, InsideClimate News
March 21, 2012

Although the report doesn’t specifically mention hydraulic fracturing, a separate peer-reviewed study released in September identified 649 chemicals used during natural gas production and found that at least 130 of those could affect the endocrine system. They include petroleum distillates, methanol and other, more obscure compounds with names like dibromoacetonitrile and ethoxylated nonylphenol.

I don’t think the TCEQ has received this news. They recently changed the Effects Screening Levels on some of the chemicals and it’s been my experience that they rarely adjust the levels downward.

Download the article free from Endocrine Reviews: http://edrv.endojournals.org/content/early/2012/03/14/er.2011-1050.full.pdf+html

UPDATE: I just did a quick search on FracFocus to see if Devon, the main driller in Denton County where they are letting industry decide how they want to be regulated, uses any of the chemicals listed in the paragraph above. Besides some other really scary stuff that can kill you, here is what I found:

Devon Energy in Denton Texas

42-121-31041
Hydrotreated Light Distillate
Menthanol

2-121-31042
Evers A #4
Hydrotreated Light Distillate
Nonyl Phenol Ethoxylate
Methanol

Evers A #5
Hydrotreated Light Distillate
Nonyl Phenol Ethoxylate
Methanol

42-121-33957
Blalock Austin Nutt SA A #1H
Hydrotreated Light Distillate
Nonyl Phenol Ethoxylate
Methanol

42-121-33955
Blalock PKF SA #2H
Hydrotreated Light Distillate
Nonyl Phenol Ethoxylate
Methanol