A new study from Oregon State University found that infants born within 3 km of oil and natural gas drilling facilities in Texas had slightly lower birthweights than those born before drilling began in their vicinity.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, found that the type of drilling or resource being extracted did not change the result.
“Most studies to date focus exclusively on unconventional natural gas drilling, or fracking. That particular process is a small subset of the oil and natural gas industry. We find it doesn’t matter where people are extracting oil and gas resources, we’re still seeing an impact on infant health,” said study author Mary Willis, a postdoctoral researcher in Oregon State University’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences. “A lot of policy is exclusively focusing on fracking, but our study shows that’s a really limited view of how this industry may impact local populations.”
Developing fetuses are highly sensitive to environmental pollution and contaminants, so to measure potential impact, this study examined birth weight and location data for 2,598,025 mother/infant pairs in Texas between 1996 and 2009 in which the mother was pregnant while living within 10 km of a current or future oil or gas drilling site.
After accounting for other potential factors influencing birth weight, Willis and the research team found that living within 3 km of an active drilling site was associated with a birthweight 7 to 9 g lower than the birthweight of babies born before drilling began.
It’s a relatively small impact, Willis said, but a lot of women live near oil and gas wells and the impact at a population level could be significant.
“So it’s concerning, but this magnitude of effect is smaller than similar papers because we take into account the economic benefits of drilling,” she said. The industrial boom of a new drilling site, particularly in rural areas, can bring new jobs, higher wages, and better access to quality health care alongside the increased environmental pollution.