[Interactive database] Toxmap provides two ways to explore toxic chemicals in your community
TOXMAP® is a Geographic Information System (GIS) that uses maps of the United States and Canada to help users visually explore data primarily from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and Superfund Program.
TOXMAP: Learn about toxic chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing & Update [Wyoming water wells very likely contaminated by fracking]
From the US National Library of Medicine Press Release of 30 November 2011
Hydraulic fracturing (also called hydrofracking or fracking) is a process in which millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground to break apart rock in order to release oil and natural gas.
The US EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program requires facilities in certain industries that manufacture, process, or use significant amounts of toxic chemicals, to report annually on their releases of these chemicals. Hydraulic fracturing is currently not a TRI-covered industry and so is not represented in TOXMAP.
EPA scientists are conducting a study of hydraulic fracturing to better understand any potential impacts on drinking water and groundwater. Congress has released a report on hydraulic fracturing (PDF, 156 KB) that lists 29 toxic chemicals used in fracturing (see Table 3 of this report). Click on the links in the table below for additional information on these chemicals:
Related Resources
- Fracking & the Drinking Water of 1/5 of the United States (-element studio)includes this graphic
- What is hydraulic frackturing (graphic)
- Anatomy of a gas well (graphic)
RRelated articles
- Wyoming Water Contaminated By “Fracking” (naturalhistorywanderings.com)
- Feds Link Water Contamination to Fracking for the First Time (ProPublica- Journalism in the Public Interest)
- Fracking Compounds Found in Drinking Water (spiritandanimal.wordpress.com)
- Fracking pollutants detected in water wells (smh.com.au)
- EPA Finds Hydrofracking Chemicals Contaminate Drinking Water (thinkprogress.org)
- EPA: Wyoming well water tainted with chemicals consistent with fracking (alternet.org)
- Shale gas drilling’s dirty secret is out | Josh Fox (guardian.co.uk)
- Fracking likely linked to groundwater pollution in U.S. (cbc.ca)
- EPA Says Fracking ‘Likely’ Polluted Groundwater (ecocentric.blogs.time.com)
- Fracking (bell-book-candle.com)
- In 2011 ‘fracking’ , according to ProPublica, became a household word (iflizwerequeen.com)
- EPA to rig ‘independent’ review of fracking report (junkscience.com)
- A Fracked Landscape in Wyoming (dirt.asla.org)
- Study links fracking to health risks (smh.com.au)
About
This blog presents a sampling of health and medical news and resources for all. Selected articles and resources will hopefully be of general interest but will also encourage further reading through posted references and other links. Currently I am focusing on public health, basic and applied research and very broadly on disease and healthy lifestyle topics.
Several times a month I will post items on international and global health issues. My Peace Corps Liberia experience (1980-81) has formed me as a global citizen in many ways and has challenged me to think of health and other topics in a more holistic manner.
Do you have an informational question in the health/medical area?
Email me at jmflahiff@yahoo.com
I will reply within 48 hours.
This blog is a companion site to my Health and Medical News and Resources Web site with…
- Great places to start (locating health information)
- Links to help from others (as health care providers and support groups)
- Interactive tools (as health calculators and apps)
- Select related news sites and blogs
My professional work experience and education includes over 15 years experience as a medical librarian and a Master’s in Library Science. In my most recent position I enjoyed contributing to our library’s blog, performing in depth literature searches, and collaborating with faculty, staff, students, and the general public.
While I will never be be able to keep up with the universe of current health/medical news, I subscribe to the following to glean entries for this blog.
- Science Daily – Your source for the latest research news
- MedlinePlus email updates from the US National Institutes of Health
- Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce – a collaboration of U.S. government agencies, public health organizations and health sciences libraries
- US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) news now with updates on the agency’s efforts to “improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans”
- Research Buzz, “news about search engines, digital archives, online museums, databases, and other Internet information collections since 1998”
- Scout Report, a “weekly publication offering a selection of new and newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and educators”
- KevinMD.com -“Social Media’s leading physician voice”
- EurekAlert-Medicine and Health
