Various studies have suggested that Hydraulic fracturing has been shown to harm human health and contribute to climate change
Fremont, CA: Land use and water consumption, air pollutants, including methane emissions, brine, and fracturing fluid leakage, water contamination, noise pollution, and health are all factors in hydraulic fracturing's environmental impact. Hydraulic fracturing poses the greatest hazards to human health in terms of water and air pollution. Hydraulic fracturing has been shown to harm human health and contribute to climate change in studies.
Proppants and other components in hydraulic fracturing fluids include chemicals that are known to be harmful and unknown molecules that may be poisonous. Companies that utilize such substances in the United States may treat them as trade secrets. Efforts to design risk management measures and study health consequences have been hampered by a lack of knowledge about specific chemicals. These compounds must be made public in other jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, and their applications must be nonhazardous.
Hydraulic fracturing's use of water can be an issue in locations where water is scarce. In jurisdictions where waste pits are authorized, surface water may be contaminated by spills and inadequately built and maintained waste pits. Furthermore, if fracturing fluids and formation fluids escape during hydraulic fracturing, groundwater can be affected. Even over a lengthy period of time, the risk of groundwater pollution from fracturing fluid upward migration is minimal. Produced water is the water that returns to the surface following hydraulic fracturing and is managed through underground injection, municipal and commercial wastewater treatment, and reuse in future wells. Methane has the potential to leak into groundwater and the atmosphere, albeit this is more of a problem in older wells than in ones constructed under more modern legislation.
Microseismic occurrences, sometimes known as microearthquakes, are caused by hydraulic fracturing. These events are usually too tiny to be detected at the surface, with magnitudes ranging from M-3 to M-1. Governments throughout the world are attempting to build regulatory frameworks to analyze and manage environmental and associated health hazards, despite pressure from industry and pro-government groups.
