![]() The lack of full disclosure of chemicals used in oil and gas operations raises the potential that PFAS could have been used even more extensively than records indicate, whether geographically, in other extraction techniques such as waterflooding, or in other stages of the oil and gas extraction process, such as drilling, that precede the underground injections known as fracking. The health effects of these chemicals remain difficult to assess, in part due to the secrecy that shrouds their precise identity. “Visualizing the locations of oil and gas sites that have used PFAS and/or PFAS precursors helps communities know what dangers they’re facing and take actions to protect themselves.”Ī decade ago, the US Environmental Protection Agency approved several chemicals for use in oil and gas operations, despite voicing serious misgivings over their toxicity and the potential that the chemicals could degrade into PFAS. “It’s critical that the public have access to information about potential exposure to toxic chemicals that put their health at risk,” said Barbara Gottlieb, PSR’s Environment & Health Program Director. The PSR report was highlighted in the New York Times. The report presents evidence that oil and gas companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron have used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and/or substances that can degrade into PFAS, in hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) for oil and gas in more than 1,200 wells in six U.S. Hiroko Tabuchi reports for the New York Times July 12, 2021.The wells mapped above were identified in a report that Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), with assistance from FracTracker Alliance, released in July 2021. Those tests were not mandatory and there is no indication that they were carried out." scientists recommended additional testing. scientists pointed to preliminary evidence that, under some conditions, the chemicals could “degrade in the environment” into substances akin to PFOA, a kind of PFAS chemical, and could “persist in the environment” and “be toxic to people, wild mammals, and birds.” The E.P.A. In a consent order issued for the three chemicals on Oct. The records, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by a nonprofit group, Physicians for Social Responsibility, are among the first public indications that PFAS, long-lasting compounds also known as “forever chemicals,” may be present in the fluids used during drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The E.P.A.’s approval of the three chemicals wasn’t previously publicly known. in 2011 approved the use of these chemicals, used to ease the flow of oil from the ground, despite the agency’s own grave concerns about their toxicity, according to the documents, which were reviewed by The New York Times. "For much of the past decade, oil companies engaged in drilling and fracking have been allowed to pump into the ground chemicals that, over time, can break down into toxic substances known as PFAS - a class of long-lasting compounds known to pose a threat to people and wildlife - according to internal documents from the Environmental Protection Agency. approvals came despite the agency’s own concerns about toxicity." "The compounds can form PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” which have been linked to cancer and birth defects.
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