California Air Resources Board

CARB will be holding a research seminar focused on the potential health impacts of oil and gas development. The seminar will also include a health and equity look at high methane emitting sources. This seminar will cover the following study topics (see links to the published papers below):

• Residence near oil and gas development and birth outcomes in California in births from 2006–2015
• Residence near hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells and adverse birth outcomes in urban and rural communities in California from 2006–2015
• The relationship of migraine headache prevalence and exacerbation and exposure to air pollution, high methane emitters, and oil and gas wells in Northern California
• An assessment of high methane producing facilities and the communities near these facilities
• Evaluating potential drinking water threats posed by oil and gas sites in the San Joaquin Valley

The result from these analyses indicates the importance of characterizing the potential human health and equity implications of oil and gas development.  This study provides information to regulatory decision-makers on the public and environmental health and environmental justice impacts and provides recommendations and additional research opportunities.

Background/Summary

There are limited health studies in California on the impacts of exposure to oil and gas development (OGD). It is important to understand the health and climate change impacts of oil and gas development as well as other major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, including high methane emitting facilities such as landfills, dairies, refineries in California. This project conducted integrated analyses to characterize the health and environmental equity impacts among vulnerable populations for oil and gas development and activities and high methane emitting facilities in California. Results from the epidemiological studies on the effects of proximity to oil and gas development (OGD) and hydraulic fracturing (HF) in pregnant women showed positive associations between these exposures and adverse birth outcomes. Analyses of high methane emitting facilities (including landfills, dairies, refineries, and other sites) showed increased odds of migraine cases with increasing NO2 levels and with methane emissions (methane acts as a surrogate for other co-pollutants that are harmful to health). PM2.5 and NO2 were positively associated with migraine exacerbation outcomes. For the equity assessment of large methane emitters in California, the investigators observed large methane emitter locations and emissions concentrations in areas (block groups) with a higher proportion of residents of color and lower voter turnout. These results provide important information to CARB to characterize some of the human health and equity implications of oil and gas development as well as high methane emitting facilities.

Biography

Rachel Morello-Frosch is Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. As an environmental health scientist and epidemiologist, her research examines social determinants of environmental health among diverse communities with a focus on inequality, psychosocial stress and how these factors interact with environmental chemical exposures to produce health inequalities. Morello-Frosch has also collaborated with communities and scientists to develop science-policy tools to assess cumulative impacts of chemical and non-chemical stressors to improve regulatory decision-making and advance environmental justice.