Radon levels in houses near fracking sites in Pennsylvania are higher;
than in those in areas where the isn't any.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/04/09/link-suspected-between-fracking-radon.html
It makes perfect sense but I haven't thought out all the unintended implications of fracking, not that I'm an expert, just someone who is very interested in the topic.
"Radon levels in houses near fracking sites in Pennsylvania are higher than in those in areas where there is no oil and gas drilling, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins University researchers."
The researchers cautioned that their findings don’t definitively tie hydraulic fracturing to higher levels of radon.
But they say they found a “statistically significant association” (DEFINITION of 'Statistically Significant';
"The likelihood that a result or relationship is caused by something other than mere random chance. Statistical hypothesis testing is traditionally employed to determine if a result is statistically significant or not. This provides a "p-value" representing the probability that random chance could explain the result. In general, a 5% or lower p-value is considered to be statistically significant; my comment) between a building’s proximity to a fracked well and to the amount of radon detected."
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/statistically_significant.asp
"Schwartz said the researchers don’t know whether other factors might have caused the increases. He said more detailed study is needed."
This is the phrase used by Statisticians when the 'p-value is high, such as this one is.
"Radon, an odorless, invisible gas, is the second-leading cause of lung c year from lung cancer caused by radon cancer in the United States after smoking, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA estimates that about 21,000 people die each year from Radon."
The methodology;
"The Johns Hopkins researchers analyzed more than 860,000 radon measurements collected from 1989 to 2013 in Pennsylvania. They found that buildings in counties with high levels of oil and gas extraction had significantly higher readings of radon than those in areas where fracking didn’t occur."
"The Hopkins researchers focused on Pennsylvania because the state’s Department of Environmental Protection has decades of radon data and fracking has become ubiquitous in parts of the state. Oil and gas companies drilled and fracked more than 7,000 wells in Pennsylvania from 2005 to 2013."
There is so much more in the article and if you live close to fracking sites, take heed and consider selling and relocating to areas where there is no 'plans' for the practice before this becomes common knowledge (not that I for one wouldn't have minor qualms about selling with this knowledge but...)
Leave it to this rag not to have a link to the original story (does this constitute some sort of legal problem, I hope so.)
