In an earlier blog post I talked about Hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, and the lack of regulation on waste water produced by it. When researching for that post I found that one problem that researchers have linked to "fracking" is that the chemical bromine seems to be finding its way into the environment and into drinking water. When I found this information it really made me curious about the practice of hydraulic fracturing. So I decided to write about the health and environmental threats that fracking can pose for a research paper. The results that my research led me to were chilling. In the liquid state bromine is corrosive to human skin and vapors irritate the eyes and throat. However, the effects can be much worse. Bromine can cause malfunctioning of the nervous system and damage to genetic materials. Inhaling or consuming the chemical bromine can also cause damage to major organs such as the kidneys, lungs and liver. Also, to add even more negative news, some forms of bromine such as ethylene bromine can even cause cancer!
Now, think of all the ways that this affects us. Traces of bromine have been found in ground water and in drinking water and these findings are believed to be from hydraulic fracturing. If bromine is in the ground then traces of it could be found in the grass that cattle eat which eventually turns into the meat that we eat. This is just one of the many ways that bromine could possibly find its way into the human body. The threats to human health are endless and I am certain that bromine is not the chemical leaking from the oil wells and into our environment. There has to be some regulation placed upon this practice or else the results could be disastrous as fracking begins to be used more and more.
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| Photo by maticulous. Flickr.com |
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| Photo by ithacabarbie. Flickr.com |
Other Sources:
http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/br.htm
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