SynthesisFertility and sterility2016
Systematic review of the association between oil and natural gas extraction processes and human reproduction.
Synthesis in Fertility and sterility, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Non-genetic risk factors of miscarriage: a comprehensive umbrella review of systematic review and meta-analysis.Reproductive health · 2025Pooled 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
- 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
- Residential proximity to oil and gas development and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus.International journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- 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
- IMPACT OF REAL-LIFE ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES ON REPRODUCTION: Evidence for reproductive health effects following exposure to hydraulic fracturing chemical mixtures.Reproduction (Cambridge, England) · 2024Review
- It's electric! An environmental equity perspective on the lifecycle of our energy sources.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2023Article
- Exposure to oil pollution and maternal outcomes: The Niger Delta prospective cohort study.PloS one · 2022Article
- Occupational Factors Affecting Women Workers' Sexual and Reproductive Health Outcomes in Oil, Gas, and Mining Industry: A Scoping Review.Public health reviews · 2022Article
- The effects of hydraulic fracturing activities on birth outcomes are evident in a non-individualized county-wide aggregate data sample from Colorado.Journal of public health research · 2021Article
- Self-reported oil spill exposure and birth outcomes among southern Louisiana women at the time of the Gulf oil spill: The GROWH study.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2021Article
- The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: responding to converging crises.Lancet (London, England) · 2021Article
- Endocrine Disruptor Compounds-A Cause of Impaired Immune Tolerance Driving Inflammatory Disorders of Pregnancy?Frontiers in endocrinology · 2021Review
- Biological effects of inhaled hydraulic fracturing sand dust. I. Scope of the investigation.Toxicology and applied pharmacology · 2020Article
- Impact of environmental toxin exposure on male fertility potential.Translational andrology and urology · 2020Review
- Developmental exposure to a mixture of unconventional oil and gas chemicals: A review of experimental effects on adult health, behavior, and disease.Molecular and cellular endocrinology · 2020Review
- The impact of neighborhood to industrial areas on health in Uzbekistan: an ecological analysis of congenital diseases, infant mortality, and lung cancer.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2020Article
- Critical evaluation of human health risks due to hydraulic fracturing in natural gas and petroleum production.Archives of toxicology · 2020Review
- Unconventional natural gas development and adverse birth outcomes in Pennsylvania: The potential mediating role of antenatal anxiety and depression.Environmental research · 2019Article
- Determining the endocrine disruption potential of industrial chemicals using an integrative approach: Public databases, in vitro exposure, and modeling receptor interactions.Environment international · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
This systematic review identified 45 original published research articles related to oil and gas extraction activities and human reproductive endpoints. Reproductive outcomes were categorized as [1] birth outcomes associated with maternal exposure, [2] semen quality, fertility, and birth outcomes associated with adult paternal exposure, [3] reproductive cancers, and [4] disruption of human sex steroid hormone receptors. The results indicate there is moderate evidence for an increased risk of preterm birth, miscarriage, birth defects, decreased semen quality, and prostate cancer. The quality of the evidence is low and/or inadequate for stillbirth, sex ratio, and birth outcomes associated with paternal exposure, and testicular cancer, female reproductive tract cancers, and breast cancer, and the evidence is inconsistent for an increased risk of low birth weight; therefore, no conclusions can be drawn for these health effects. There is ample evidence for disruption of the estrogen, androgen, and progesterone receptors by oil and gas chemicals, which provides a mechanistic rationale for how exposure to oil and gas activities may increase the health risks we have outlined. The results from this systematic review suggest there is a negative impact on human reproduction from exposure to oil and gas activities. Many of the 45 studies reviewed identified potential human health effects. Most of these studies focused on conventional oil and gas activities. Few studies have been conducted to evaluate the impact of unconventional oil and gas operations on human health. The impact of unconventional oil and gas activities may be greater than that of conventional activity, given that unconventional activities employ many of the same approaches and use dozens of known endocrine-disrupting chemicals in hydraulic fracturing.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.