Correlation between fracking and asthma attacks, study finds

Asthma sufferers who live near natural gas wells operated by the fracking industry are more at risk of attacks than those who live farther away, new research reveals.

A study by the US-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found people with asthma who live near bigger or larger numbers of active unconventional natural gas wells operated by the fracking industry in Pennsylvania are 1.5 to four times likelier to have asthma attacks than those who live farther away.

The new study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, can’t pinpoint why asthma attacks are more likely closer to more or larger wells, though researchers say that air pollution and increased stress levels from the noise, traffic and other community impacts associated with the industry could play a role.

‘We are concerned with the growing number of