Fracking Components Affect Thyroid Hormone Receptors
Trying to measure environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing, the study builds on an earlier analysis of surface and ground water samples collected in a natural gas drilling region of Garfield County, Colorado. Of the 39 unique water samples, 89%, 41%, 12%, and 46% exhibited estrogenic, antiestrogenic, androgenic, and antiandrogenic effects, respectively.
The new study looked at a subset of 24 chemicals commonly used in fracking. The investigators found that many of the chemicals blocked glucocorticoid and thyroid hormone receptors, and had the effects identified in the first study (Figure).
The authors cautioned that they have not identified these chemicals in local water samples but that poor health outcomes including infertility, cancer, and birth defects have been observed in the presence of hormone disruption by these agents, with infants and children most vulnerable to potential exposure.
An article in the Clinical Oncology News.
