Living near oil and gas wells increases air pollution exposure

Date:
October 12, 2021
Source:
Stanford University
Summary:
Researchers found increased concentrations of air pollutants
downwind from oil and gas wells in California, likely affecting
millions of Californians who live near them.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In a 14-year analysis of air quality across California, Stanford
researchers observed higher levels of air pollutants within 2.5 miles
of oil and gas wells, likely worsening negative health outcomes for
nearby residents.


==========================================================================
The scientists analyzed local air quality measurements in combination
with atmospheric data and found that oil and gas wells are emitting
toxic particulate matter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, ozone
and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The findings, which appear in the journal Science of the Total Environment, will help researchers determine
how proximity to oil and gas wells may increase the risk of adverse
health outcomes, including preterm birth, asthma and heart disease.

"In California, Black and Latinx communities face some of the highest
pollution from oil and gas wells. If we care about environmental justice
and making sure every kid has a chance to be healthy, we should care
about this," said lead author David Gonzalez, who conducted research
for the study while a PhD student in Stanford's Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E- IPER). "What's novel about our
study is that we've done this at a population, state-wide scale using
the same methods as public health studies." The findings align with
other smaller-scale studies that have measured emissions from a handful
of wells. At least two million Californians live within one mile of an
active oil or gas well.

"It's really hard to show air quality impacts of an activity like oil and
gas production at a population scale, but that's the scale we need to be
able to infer health impacts," said senior study author Marshall Burke,
an associate professor of Earth system science at Stanford's School of
Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth). "While it's not necessarily surprising that drilling and operating oil and gas wells emit
air pollutants, knowing the magnitude of the effect improves our broader understanding of who is exposed to what and how to intervene to improve
health outcomes." A global killer The research reveals that when a new
well is being drilled or reaches 100 barrels of production per day,
the deadly particle pollution known as PM2.5increases two micrograms
per cubic meter about a mile away from the site.

A recent study published in Science Advances found that long-term exposure
to one additional microgram per meter cubed of PM2.5 increases the risk
of death from COVID-19 by 11 percent.



==========================================================================
"We started in 2006 because that's when local agencies started reporting
PM2.5 concentrations," said Gonzalez, who is now a postdoctoral researcher
at the University of California, Berkeley. "We're very concerned about particulate matter because it's a leading global killer." The team
evaluated about 38,000 wells that were being drilled and 90,000 wells
in production between 2006 and 2019. They developed an econometric
model incorporating over a million daily observations from 314 air
monitors in combination with global wind direction information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to determine if
the pollutants were coming from the wells.

Other factors that could be contributing to elevated emissions were
controlled for -- such as wildfire smoke or industrial activities --
and monitors located far from drilling sites were used to identify those factors unrelated to wells.

They also analyzed locations with air quality data from both before and
after a well was drilled.

"Sometimes the wind is blowing from the well, sometimes it's not,
and we found significantly higher pollution on days when the wind is
blowing from the wells," Gonzalez said. "As a control, we assumed wells
that are downwind of the air monitor shouldn't contribute any pollution
-- and that is indeed what we saw." The research also reveals that
ozone -- a powerful oxidant that can cause wheezing, shortness of
breath and aggravated lung disease -- was present up to 2.5 miles
from wells. Children are at the greatest risk from exposure to ozone
because their lungs are still developing, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).



========================================================================== Chronic exposure The new study contributes to a growing body of evidence
about the dangers of living near oil and gas wells that may help guide
ongoing policymaking around residential setbacks from drilling sites. For example, LA County recently voted to phase out oil and gas drilling,
citing issues of climate change, environmental impacts and equity, and
other California cities are in discussion about neighborhood drilling regulations.

"Many of California's oil fields have been operating for decades. People
that live near them have been chronically exposed to higher levels of
pollution - - and a lot of these wells are located in neighborhoods that
are already burdened by pollution," Gonzalez said. "Our study adds to
the evidence that public health policies are needed to reduce residents' exposure to air pollution from wells." Although data for the research
is from California, the co-authors say the findings are likely applicable
to other regions with oil and gas operations.

"We've had earlier papers suggesting that proximity to oil and gas
production worsens health outcomes, and the likely channel was through
air pollutants, but we previously didn't have a good way to demonstrate
that was the case," Burke said. "This new work is helping confirm that
air pollution was the missing link between this type of energy production
and the bad outcome that we cared about.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Stanford_University. Original
written by Danielle Torrent Tucker. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. David J.X. Gonzalez, Christina K. Francis, Gary M. Shaw, Mark
R. Cullen,
Michael Baiocchi, Marshall Burke. Upstream oil and gas production
and ambient air pollution in California. Science of The Total
Environment, 2022; 806: 150298 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150298 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211012154833.htm

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