James Dahlgren, MD on the Health Hazards of Fracking Chemicals

James Dahlgren, M.D. is a doctor of internal medicine and occupational & environmental medicine in Santa Monica and is a lecturer at the UCLA School of Medicine and the UCLA School of Public Health. Dr. Dahlgren discusses the health affects of living near an oilfield, using charts and statistics from the Inglewood Oil Field and from around the world. 3:21 - 4:28 : The list of dangerous chemicals generated from any oilfield, but whose quantities are greatly increased by fracking: 1. Benzene (multiple cancers including leukemia as well as asthma—see below), 2. Methane (explosion & fire—see below) 3. Hydrogen Sulfide (what you might be smelling from the fields—see below), 4. Glycol ethers (super toxic chemical that causes reproductive harm and is part of the high-volume chemicals used in the fracking process) 5. n-hexane (heavily used in fracking fluid, one of the most toxic neuro-toxins in the peripheral arms & legs as well as the brain), 6. many others. BENZENE research: 5:50 - 11:44 A series of studies from Pennsylvania, Sweden, Australia, Norway, and China showing links between low level exposure to benzene and multiple cancers, including leukemia. 11:45 - 12:30 : The ASTHMA & BENZENE Connection A summation of a number of studies revealing "a very high increased rates of Asthma from low level exposure to Benzene. I suspect that's one health affect we will be seeing in the population if we ever get a chance to study living near the Inglewood Oil Field." Methane research: 12:30 - 13:18 Not toxic, but very dangerous in fire and explosion. H2S: Hydrogen Sulfide 13:20 - 14:05 Is Rotten Egg Gas dangerous? Chronic low-level toxic affects, primarily to the brain. A number of studies have shown that even in the low parts per billion H2S can cause brain damage, particularly in children. It has an interesting cumulative affect on Mitochondria similar to benzene. Also a respiratory irritant. 14:07 Oil Field Chemicals Cause Birth Defects: "Our most susceptible people living in communities adjacent to oil fields are the unborn children( in utero). They are not only subject to birth defects but also childhood leukemia which has been documented in Los Angeles County, next to the Oil Refineries in Wilmington. 14:40. Dr. Dahlgren believes that VAPOR INTRUSION into residential communities is one of the unstudied and little known health hazards of living near oil fields. 15:30 Dr. Dahlgren outlines his recommendations for NEXT STEPS to more clearly understand the health ramifications of the Inglewood Oil Fields: • Study the health of the population • Questionnaire to survey the neighborhoods • Collection biological samples of exposure • BTEX • PCBs and dioxins • Heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, barium) • Soil Gas Samples Dr. Dahlgren was filmed at FRACKING: THE L.A. STORY: A Seminar on Hydraulic Fracturing and the Democratic Process, held at West Los Angeles College on March 23, 2013.