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Unconventional oil and gas development and ambient particle radioactivity

Li, Longxiang ; Blomberg, Annelise J LU orcid ; Spengler, John D ; Coull, Brent A ; Schwartz, Joel D and Koutrakis, Petros (2020) In Nature Communications 11(1).
Abstract

Unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD) expanded extensively in the United States from the early 2000s. However, the influence of UOGD on the radioactivity of ambient particulate is not well understood. We collected the ambient particle radioactivity (PR) measurements of RadNet, a nationwide environmental radiation monitoring network. We obtained the information of over 1.5 million wells from the Enverus database. We investigated the association between the upwind UOGD well count and the downwind gross-beta radiation with adjustment for environmental factors governing the natural emission and transport of radioactivity. Our statistical analysis found that an additional 100 upwind UOGD wells within 20 km is associated with... (More)

Unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD) expanded extensively in the United States from the early 2000s. However, the influence of UOGD on the radioactivity of ambient particulate is not well understood. We collected the ambient particle radioactivity (PR) measurements of RadNet, a nationwide environmental radiation monitoring network. We obtained the information of over 1.5 million wells from the Enverus database. We investigated the association between the upwind UOGD well count and the downwind gross-beta radiation with adjustment for environmental factors governing the natural emission and transport of radioactivity. Our statistical analysis found that an additional 100 upwind UOGD wells within 20 km is associated with an increase of 0.024 mBq/m3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.020, 0.028 mBq/m3) in the gross-beta particle radiation downwind. Based on the published health analysis of PR, the widespread UOGD could induce adverse health effects to residents living close to UOGD by elevating PR.

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author
; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
in
Nature Communications
volume
11
issue
1
article number
5002
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:33051463
  • scopus:85092520482
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/s41467-020-18226-w
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
5372878c-fc11-4046-97ec-87a9972b1d15
date added to LUP
2021-09-09 11:34:17
date last changed
2024-06-15 16:05:01
@article{5372878c-fc11-4046-97ec-87a9972b1d15,
  abstract     = {{<p>Unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD) expanded extensively in the United States from the early 2000s. However, the influence of UOGD on the radioactivity of ambient particulate is not well understood. We collected the ambient particle radioactivity (PR) measurements of RadNet, a nationwide environmental radiation monitoring network. We obtained the information of over 1.5 million wells from the Enverus database. We investigated the association between the upwind UOGD well count and the downwind gross-beta radiation with adjustment for environmental factors governing the natural emission and transport of radioactivity. Our statistical analysis found that an additional 100 upwind UOGD wells within 20 km is associated with an increase of 0.024 mBq/m3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.020, 0.028 mBq/m3) in the gross-beta particle radiation downwind. Based on the published health analysis of PR, the widespread UOGD could induce adverse health effects to residents living close to UOGD by elevating PR.</p>}},
  author       = {{Li, Longxiang and Blomberg, Annelise J and Spengler, John D and Coull, Brent A and Schwartz, Joel D and Koutrakis, Petros}},
  issn         = {{2041-1723}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Communications}},
  title        = {{Unconventional oil and gas development and ambient particle radioactivity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18226-w}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41467-020-18226-w}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}