Number of students with Tourette symptoms grows

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hobkyl
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Interesting...

From CNN..."In July 2011, some of the tanks at the well sites leaked fluid on to athletic fields. Some trees died."

So in all reality, there is a huge probability that these kids were playing sports or recreating on the fields. Only a month or two after the spill. Although why only a small percentage of them?

It's instances such as these that are making me rethink my stance on fracking. :oops:
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Matt
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The thing is... there's not a known component of fracked natural gas that causes neurological symptoms such as this...
Luckily though... it's easy to take a sample of known gas and analyze it (gas spectrometry)
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The difficulty with fracking fluid is the combination is different for every company - and no one has tested what the various combinations of fluids or gases would do in the human body. So anyone living near a shale gas well is part of a poorly run, very dangerous experiment, with no one keeping track of inputs, and those with information unwilling to disclose results.
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These types of wells have been in operation around the united states since the early 50's. It is very well known what chemical components are used in fracturing. Regardless of the amounts, no hydraulic fracturing catalyst is known to cause these types of systems.
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hobkyl
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I agree with that, as I have defended fracking tooth and nail as a viable band-aid to our energy needs. I just find it very odd that a spill occurred and then the "outbreak" occured. Seems there has to be some sort of correlation there. Perhaps some elaborate ploy by Mr. Fox just in time for Gasland 2?
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Matt
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My money is on pathogenic.
Contamination of soil, air or water would have had a more defined pattern and probably more widespread.
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Establishing a causal link between fracking and specific health threats is tricky. Energy companies are not required to disclose the composition of fracking fluids for proprietary reasons, so they don’t.




Many of the chemicals used in shale gas drilling, such as benzene, are hazardous. Long-term exposure to such chemicals can have serious health consequences. Because the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, shale gas drillers don’t have to disclose what chemicals they use.

Despite their attempts to keep the make-up of fracking fluids secret, we do know something about what they contain. A recent study conducted by Theo Colburn, PhD, the director of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange in Paonia, Colorado, has so far identified 65 chemicals that are probable components of the injection fluids used by shale gas drillers. These chemicals included benzene, glycol-ethers, toluene, 2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethanol, and nonylphenols. All of these chemicals have been linked to health disorders when human exposure is too high.




“In the news recently, you may have heard of something called “fracking” or “hydraulic fracturing.” It is a drilling process used by the natural gas industry to extract natural gas from beneath the ground.

“And there are health and safety concerns about it. Despite provisions in the Clean Air Act, there is something called the ‘Halliburton loophole’ that allows the gas companies to inject proprietary mixtures of methane, ethane, liquid condensate and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the wells. Some of the VOCs that are used in the mixtures have a significant impact on health and include benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene. “Health effects of exposure to these chemicals include neurological problems, birth defects and cancer. Other symptoms may include bloody noses, asthma, GI distress, diarrhea, dizziness, migraines, nerve pain, neurological disorders and skin rashes.



http://michiganmessenger.com/48302/cong ... ing-fluids

http://grist.org/list/2011-08-05-epa-fo ... tes-water/

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20111 ... -gas-wells

"Residents have alleged for nearly a decade that the drilling—and hydraulic fracturing in particular—has caused their water to turn black and smell like gasoline. Some residents say they suffer neurological impairment, loss of smell, and nerve pain they associate with exposure to pollutants."
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Matt
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There are far more cases of contaminated well water, especially picking up petro-chemicals and often radiation, then cases where fracking is in proximity. This has happened for centuries prior to fracking being conceived.
Just because fracking is present, doesn't mean that fracking is responsible. The anti-frackers don't quite understand this. With this logic, cars shouldn't have oil, and people shouldn't use bleach in their laundry, because domestic dumping of oil and bleach is by far the largest non-point source of water contaminants in the United states and account for more well contamination than any other non-natural cause.

That doesn't mean fracking can't be responsible, but all evidence, especially the lack of pattern of the affected, point to "no"
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