#PLOSONE: Unconventional Gas and Oil Drilling Is Associated with Increased Hospital Utilization Rates

Abstract

Over the past ten years, unconventional gas and oil drilling (UGOD) has markedly expanded in the United States. Despite substantial increases in well drilling, the health consequences of UGOD toxicant exposure remain unclear. This study examines an association between wells and healthcare use by zip code from 2007 to 2011 in Pennsylvania. Inpatient discharge databases from the Pennsylvania Healthcare Cost Containment Council were correlated with active wells by zip code in three counties in Pennsylvania. For overall inpatient prevalence rates and 25 specific medical categories, the association of inpatient prevalence rates with number of wells per zip code and, separately, with wells per km² (separated into quantiles and defined as well density) were estimated using fixed-effects Poisson models. To account for multiple comparisons, a Bonferroni correction with associations of p<0.00096 was considered statistically significant. Cardiology inpatient prevalence rates were significantly associated with number of wells per zip code (p<0.00096) and wells per km² (p<0.00096) while neurology inpatient prevalence rates were significantly associated with wells per km² (p<0.00096). Furthermore, evidence also supported an association between well density and inpatient prevalence rates for the medical categories of dermatology, neurology, oncology, and urology. These data suggest that UGOD wells, which dramatically increased in the past decade, were associated with increased inpatient prevalence rates within specific medical categories in Pennsylvania. Further studies are necessary to address healthcare costs of UGOD and determine whether specific toxicants or combinations are associated with organ-specific responses.

Figures

   

Citation: Jemielita T, Gerton GL, Neidell M, Chillrud S, Yan B, Stute M, et al. (2015) Unconventional Gas and Oil Drilling Is Associated with Increased Hospital Utilization Rates. PLoS ONE 10(7): e0131093. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0131093
Editor: Jaymie Meliker, Stony Brook University, Graduate Program in Public Health, UNITED STATES
Received: February 2, 2015; Accepted: May 28, 2015; Published: July 15, 2015
Copyright: © 2015 Jemielita et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Data Availability: All relevant data are available in the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Funding: This work was funded by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (www.niehs.nih.gov): P30-ES013508 (GLG MH PS NF TMP JR KJP RAP) and P30-ES009089 (GLG MN SC BY MS MH PS NF TMP JR KJP RAP). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

The United States now leads the world in producing natural gas from shale formations. Shale gas accounted for 40% of all natural gas produced in 2012 [1–4]. In comparison to the early 2000s, natural gas production in the US has increased with more than a 30% increase in production, due in part to the cost-effective combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing [1–4].
 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0131093