A Systematic Review of the Epidemiologic Literature Assessing Health Outcomes in Populations Living near Oil and Natural Gas Operations: Study Quality and Future Recommendations

Alison M. Bamber, Stephanie H. Hasanali, Anil S. Nair, Sharon M. Watkins, Daniel I. Vigil, Michael Van Dyke, Tami S. McMullin and Kristy Richardson
Additional contact information
Alison M. Bamber: Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, CO 80246, USA
Stephanie H. Hasanali: Bureau of Epidemiology, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Harrisburg, PA 17120, USA
Anil S. Nair: Bureau of Epidemiology, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Harrisburg, PA 17120, USA
Sharon M. Watkins: Bureau of Epidemiology, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Harrisburg, PA 17120, USA
Daniel I. Vigil: Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, CO 80246, USA
Michael Van Dyke: Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, CO 80246, USA
Tami S. McMullin: Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, CO 80246, USA
Kristy Richardson: Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, CO 80246, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: A systematic method was used to review the existing epidemiologic literature and determine the state of the scientific evidence for potential adverse health outcomes in populations living near oil and natural gas (ONG) operations in the United States. The review utilized adapted systematic review frameworks from the medical and environmental health fields, such as Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE), the Navigation Guide, and guidance from the National Toxicology Program’s Office of Health Assessment and Translation (OHAT). The review included 20 epidemiologic studies, with 32 different health outcomes. Studies of populations living near ONG operations provide limited evidence (modest scientific findings that support the outcome, but with significant limitations) of harmful health effects including asthma exacerbations and various self-reported symptoms. Study quality has improved over time and the highest rated studies within this assessment have primarily focused on birth outcomes. Additional high-quality studies are needed to confirm or dispute these correlations.

Keywords: oil and natural gas; hydraulic fracturing; fracking; unconventional oil and gas; environmental health; epidemiology; systematic literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/12/2123/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/12/2123/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:12:p:2123-:d:240182

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().