ArticlePloS one2015
Perinatal outcomes and unconventional natural gas operations in Southwest Pennsylvania.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Oil and Gas Development and Adverse Birth Outcomes: A Qualitative and Quantitative Bias Analysis of the Epidemiologic Literature.Current environmental health reports · 2026Pooled it
- Association between maternal exposure to oil and gas extraction process with adverse birth outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- The public health impacts of mining in Australia.The Medical journal of Australia · 2025Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of the Epidemiologic Literature Assessing Health Outcomes in Populations Living near Oil and Natural Gas Operations: Study Quality and Future Recommendations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Exploring the endocrine activity of air pollutants associated with unconventional oil and gas extraction.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2018Pooled it
- Systematic review of the association between oil and natural gas extraction processes and human reproduction.Fertility and sterility · 2016Pooled it
- Exposure to coal-fired power plant emissions, unconventional natural gas development, and salivary miRNA profiles and asthma in children.Environmental research · 2026Article
- Structural birth defects and exposure to oil and gas wells during pregnancy.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Monitoring and Modeling Population Exposures to Air Pollutants from Oil and Gas Development: Part 1. Predictive, Source-Oriented Modeling and Measurements to Evaluate Community Exposures to Air Pollutants and Noise from Unconventional Oil and Gas Development.Research report (Health Effects Institute) · 2026Article
- Using Geoscientific Analysis and Community Engagement to Analyze Exposures to Potential Groundwater Contamination Related to Hydrocarbon Extraction in Southwestern Pennsylvania.Research report (Health Effects Institute) · 2025Article
- Exposures from Oil and Gas Development and Childhood Leukemia Risk in Colorado: A Population-Based Case-Control Study.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review of Spatial-Temporal Data Sources for Estimating Population-Level Exposures to Oil and Gas Development in the United States.Current environmental health reports · 2025Review
- The Causal Effect of Increasing Area-Level Income on Birth Outcomes and Pregnancy-Related Health: Estimates From the Marcellus Shale Boom Economy.Demography · 2024Article
- IMPACT OF REAL-LIFE ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES ON REPRODUCTION: Evidence for reproductive health effects following exposure to hydraulic fracturing chemical mixtures.Reproduction (Cambridge, England) · 2024Review
- A National Study of the Associations between Hormonal Modulators in Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Chemicals and Birth Outcomes in the United States of America: A County-Level Analysis.Environmental health perspectives · 2024Article
- Altered oxidative stress and antioxidant biomarkers concentrations in pregnant individuals exposed to oil and gas sites in Northeastern British Columbia.Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology · 2024Article
- The human health effects of unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD): A scoping review of epidemiologic studies.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2024Article
- High Chlorine Concentrations in an Unconventional Oil and Gas Development Region and Impacts on Atmospheric Chemistry.Environmental science & technology · 2023Article
- It's electric! An environmental equity perspective on the lifecycle of our energy sources.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2023Article
- Assessing Exposure to Unconventional Oil and Gas Development: Strengths, Challenges, and Implications for Epidemiologic Research.Current environmental health reports · 2022Review
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Unconventional gas drilling (UGD) has enabled extraordinarily rapid growth in the extraction of natural gas. Despite frequently expressed public concern, human health studies have not kept pace. We investigated the association of proximity to UGD in the Marcellus Shale formation and perinatal outcomes in a retrospective cohort study of 15,451 live births in Southwest Pennsylvania from 2007-2010. Mothers were categorized into exposure quartiles based on inverse distance weighted (IDW) well count; least exposed mothers (first quartile) had an IDW well count less than 0.87 wells per mile, while the most exposed (fourth quartile) had 6.00 wells or greater per mile. Multivariate linear (birth weight) or logistical (small for gestational age (SGA) and prematurity) regression analyses, accounting for differences in maternal and child risk factors, were performed. There was no significant association of proximity and density of UGD with prematurity. Comparison of the most to least exposed, however, revealed lower birth weight (3323 ± 558 vs 3344 ± 544 g) and a higher incidence of SGA (6.5 vs 4.8%, respectively; odds ratio: 1.34; 95% confidence interval: 1.10-1.63). While the clinical significance of the differences in birth weight among the exposure groups is unclear, the present findings further emphasize the need for larger studies, in regio-specific fashion, with more precise characterization of exposure over an extended period of time to evaluate the potential public health significance of UGD.
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