The Atlantic

New, Major Evidence That Fracking Harms Human Health

A child born very close to a well is likely to be smaller and less healthy than a child born farther away.
Source: Jim Urquhart / Reuters

Updated on December 13 at 6:30 p.m.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, may pose a significant—but very local—harm to human health, a new study finds. Mothers who live very close to a fracking well are more likely to give birth to a less healthy child with a low birth weight—and low birth weight can lead to poorer health throughout a person’s life.

The research, published Wednesday in Science Advances, is the largest study ever conducted on fracking’s health effects.

“I think this is the most convincing

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