Quantification of Air Pollution from Natural Gas Development and Relationship to Health Outcomes

• Charlotte Ward, Post-doctoral researcher, Dept. of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine
• Margaret Karagas, Faculty and Chair, Dept. of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine

Quantification of Air Pollution from Natural Gas Development and Relationship to Health Outcomes: A Quasi-Experimental Investigation

Natural gas development (NGD) has become increasingly recognized as a significant source of air pollution with the potential to adversely affect the health of the millions of individuals who live in areas near NGD well sites [10,11]. Recent studies have suggested that there is a positive association between exposure to NGD well activity, defined by proximity to an NGD well, and adverse health outcomes [12-22]. However, relying on a proximity-based measure of the NGD exposure constrains the focus to potential rather than actual exposure measurement. Most researchers hypothesize that the reason for the relationship between NGD and health is that air pollutants emitted from NGD wells impact those within the vicinity. A lack of characterization of the exposure prevents us from reliably confirming or refuting a causal linkage between NGD activities and adverse health outcomes due to the potential for misclassification bias [24]. Accurate measurement and assessment of air pollutant concentrations from NGD well sites is critically important. In this study, I will develop a methodological framework which will allow for attribution of air pollutant concentrations derived from a combination of statistical models, and multiple sources (i.e., satellite, meteorological, land-use, etc), to NGD well pads.