Unsafe Levels of Formaldehyde in Air Around Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale | DeSmogBlog.
Results from air samples taken in the Fayetteville Shale show notably elevated levels of formaldehyde, a suspected human carcinogen that can cause respiratory and reproductive problems as well as birth defects — but citizens still have little faith U.S. regulators will step in to prevent further threats to human health.
The tests were conducted by an Arkansas community group trained byGlobal Community Monitor to use equipment and methods certified by federal agencies to collect the air samples. Citizen groups in Colorado, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wyoming were also trained for the community-based participatory research.
Over a period of two years, samples were taken at sites locals were concerned about. Laboratory analysis of the samples collected often revealed contaminants such as benzene, formaldehyde and other toxic substances above levels the federal government considers safe for brief or longer-term human exposure.
“The implications for health effects are just enormous,” David O. Carpenter, director of the University at Albany’s Institute for Health and the Environment, told National Geographic.
Carpenter was lead author on a peer-reviewed article published on Oct. 30 in tandem with Coming Clean and Global Community Monitor’s study, “Warning Signs: Toxic Air Pollution Identified at Oil and Gas Sites.”
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