A spokesperson for Health Canada says that the government agency currently recommends that homeowners test radon levels in their properties and use certified suppliers to install mitigation technologies if such are required.
Many people may not think about radon very much, given the fact that it is invisible. Glover says that getting informed now, before the permafrost thaw worsens, could save lives.
“We know that people die from it,” he says. “But at the same time, there’s so much that we can do to protect ourselves.”
10.1146/knowable-051122-1
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fluids and fracking sand to the wells, or the volatile organic compounds that are released during fracking, could be to blame. The only way to resolve this mystery is
to collect more data. “There are no EPA monitoring stations around most fracking wells because they’re far from population centers in rural areas, but if we don’t have monitors, we don’t have data,” said Li. “We hope in the future we can fund a study to deploy mobile monitors downwind from fracking wells to have a better idea of what’s in the air.” Understanding the primary sources of radioactivity during the fracking process and the composition of the resulting airborne pollutants is key to crafting effective regulation to limit their harmful effects. Given that the U.S. natural gas industry is expected to continue to grow through 2050, and more than 17 million people—that’s one out of every 20 Americans—live within one kilometer of a
fracking well, the research has taken on a special urgency. But the Harvard scholars are prepared for a protracted search to find the support they need from policymakers and grant-making institutions to better understand the problem.
“We need better information about what is released and then we can have better regulations, but the amount of funding that goes for this research is nothing—it’s peanuts,” said Koutrakis. “Hopefully the research we’re doing now helps us have a more regulated industry similar to coal plants so we can protect populations near those areas. Oil and gas production is a tremendous economic and industrial sector, but it needs to be regulated and have specific emissions standards.”
Source: Fracking’s Deadly Toll | Harvard Magazine
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