30 Jan New Study Links Fracking Operations to Birth Defects

January 30, 2014 –

A brand new study, accepted for publication in the National Institute of Health’s Journal Environmental Health Perspectives, has alarming findings for soon-to-be mothers who live within 10 miles of fracking operations.

In their conclusion, the study’s authors note that “…we observed an association between density and proximity of natural gas wells within a 10-mile radius of maternal residence and prevalence of (congenital heart defects) and possibly (neural tube defects).”

The study examined a large data set of 124,842 rural Colorado births between 1996 to 2009.

As one observer notes in EcoWatch, “According to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, 26 percent of the more than 47,000 oil and gas wells in the state are located within 150 to 1000 feet of a home or other type of building that is intended for human occupancy.”

To read the full study in PDF format, click here.