ArticleEpidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.)2016
Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Birth Outcomes in Pennsylvania, USA.
Article in Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 127 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
127 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled 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
- School-based exposures to oil and gas development for public school children in the United States.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
- Residential proximity to oil and gas development and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus.International journal of epidemiology · 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
- Impact of oil and gas boom and busts on working-age mortality in the U.S.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2025Article
- High populations near fossil fuel energy infrastructure across the supply chain and implications for an equitable energy transition.Environmental research letters : ERL [Web site] · 2025Article
- Associations of community socioeconomic factors and opioid use disorder across an urban-to-rural spectrum in Pennsylvania: an electronic health record-based case-control study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Investigating the Aliso Canyon gas blowout disaster and adverse birth outcomes: A quasiexperimental approach.Science advances · 2025Article
- The health burden and racial-ethnic disparities of air pollution from the major oil and gas lifecycle stages in the United States.Science advances · 2025Article
- Cumulative Human Health Risk Assessment of Regional Ozone and Volatile Organic Compounds from Unconventional Oil and Gas Sites in Colorado's Front Range.Environmental health perspectives · 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
- Cumulative Exposure to Unconventional Natural Gas Development and the Risk of Childhood Cancer: A Registry-Based Case-Control Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- The Causal Effect of Increasing Area-Level Income on Birth Outcomes and Pregnancy-Related Health: Estimates From the Marcellus Shale Boom Economy.Demography · 2024Article
- 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
67 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUnconventional natural gas development has expanded rapidly. In Pennsylvania, the number of producing wells increased from 0 in 2005 to 3,689 in 2013. Few publications have focused on unconventional natural gas development and birth outcomes.
methodsWe performed a retrospective cohort study using electronic health record data on 9,384 mothers linked to 10,946 neonates in the Geisinger Health System from January 2009 to January 2013. We estimated cumulative exposure to unconventional natural gas development activity with an inverse-distance squared model that incorporated distance to the mother's home; dates and durations of well pad development, drilling, and hydraulic fracturing; and production volume during the pregnancy. We used multilevel linear and logistic regression models to examine associations between activity index quartile and term birth weight, preterm birth, low 5-minute Apgar score and small size for gestational age birth, while controlling for potential confounding variables.
resultsIn adjusted models, there was an association between unconventional natural gas development activity and preterm birth that increased across quartiles, with a fourth quartile odds ratio of 1.4 (95% confidence interval = 1.0, 1.9). There were no associations of activity with Apgar score, small for gestational age birth, or term birth weight (after adjustment for year). In a posthoc analysis, there was an association with physician-recorded high-risk pregnancy identified from the problem list (fourth vs. first quartile, 1.3 [95% confidence interval = 1.1, 1.7]).
conclusionPrenatal residential exposure to unconventional natural gas development activity was associated with two pregnancy outcomes, adding to evidence that unconventional natural gas development may impact health.See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/EDE/B14.
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