Air pollution caused by oil and gas drills should not be overlooked as it is becoming one of the major causes. These drilling sites do not account for only air pollution as they also contribute to water, noise, and light pollution.
Hypertension Is More Prevalent In Pregnant Women Near Drilling Sites
Air pollution causes many respiratory disorders as well as increases the risk of hypertension. In 2019, National Toxicology Program also stated that air pollution is one of the major reasons for many hypertensive disorders.
At the beginning of December, a similar report was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology whose co-authors were Molly Kile & Perry Hystad of Oregon State University, Elaine Hill of University of Rochester & Susan Carozza, who retired from OSU, which stated that a recent study in Oregon state university, the researchers suspected that expecting women living near any oil or gas drills showed higher symptoms of high blood pressure (hypertension).
The study was conducted for 13 years (1996 to 2009) in Texas because it has the greatest number of oil and gas drilling sites in the entire United States. The research looked into approximately 3 million births from women living at the proximity of around 6 miles from any oil or gas drills.
This was the first time that research interconnected a relationship between oil and gas drills & hypertension amid pregnancy. The report claimed that pregnant women living less than 1km from an oil or gas drilling site were 5 percent more likely to develop hypertension & had more than 26 percent chance of having eclampsia which is a more severe and harmful form of hypertension that may cause complications to both mother and child during birth. But the chances of hypertension reduce as the distance from these drilling sites increases further 3 km.
Nearly 3 million birth certificates were studied in this research which shows all the complications the mother had during childbirth, including eclampsia & hypertension, which helped in this intensive research. Still, these certificates do not account for a more common and weaker form of eclampsia, i.e., pre-eclampsia, which affects a large number of women but is left unnoticed.
The researchers stated that all across the states, 8 percent of the total pregnant women show hypertension & 16 percent of the total maternal deaths are due to the complications that arise from severe hypertension & eclampsia. Even after childbirth, some mothers still suffer from Gestational hypertension that can last for a few months.
The study concerns people living near the drilling sites; many people assume that the numbers of residents living near these drilling sites are very less, but estimation shows that around 11 million residents are living within a 1-kilometer range from these oil & gas drilling sites in the United States.
The issue may expand in Texas as residents can be near as 45 meters from drilling sites because the most number of drilling sites are present there. The risk of hypertension due to drilling may increase as the oil & gas industry is also expanding, which enhances the chance of people living around drilling sites.
As much as this is a matter of concern, there is also a positive side. The oil & gas industry provides a large number of jobs to people living nearby, which helps the residents financially and helps reduce unemployment issues to a small extent.
Meanwhile, some researchers stated that the connection between oil & gas drilling sites and hypertension is a subject that needs more research. It is still unclear what is the reason behind this and why pregnant women are more vulnerable to this, and further research may bring more clarity.
