*Update* Pa. Health Report Destroys Conclusion of Activist Fracking and Asthma Study
Wednesday August 3, 2016
UPDATE (8/3/2016; 10:21 EST)
A Colorado-based asthma expert set the record straight on several of the misconceptions perpetuated by the Johns Hopkins University fracking study in a recent interview with KREX-TV in Grand Junction, Col.
Dr. David Scott of the Allergy and Asthma Center of Western Colorado told KREX the study offers no evidence that the actual fracking process plays any role in either causing asthma or exacerbating asthma.
“The study did not show that hydraulic fracturing in any way causes asthma. It showed that increased fracking activity which encompasses a lot of different activities, was associated with an increased number of asthma exacerbations.”
Scott also emphasized the “association” is a shaky one, considering several factors completely unrelated to fracking — both in the Johns Hopkins Pennsylvania study area, and the Grand Rapids area, where fracking is prevalent — could be causing increased asthma exacerbations.
“A lot of it stems from vehicle exhaust emissions from everyone, not just people fracturing. We have no vehicle exhaust emission standards in this town.”
— Original Post July 20, 2016 —
When researchers at Johns Hopkins University released a study on Monday suggesting that fracking causes asthma attacks, Energy In Depth noted that it was more than a little strange that the researchers didn’t include county-by-county comparisons between areas in Pennsylvania with and without shale development – which presumably would have been a slam dunk if their conclusions were sound, right?
Well, it turns out the researchers’ failure to do so might have something to do with the fact that P...