Health Hazards of Natural Gas
From: Bob Paddock To: Jerry Decker Subject: SNET: (Fwd) The Health Hazards of Natural Gas. (fwd) Date: Wed, 09 Apr 1997 14:44:54 -0400 Date: Tue, 8 Apr 1997 23:01:28 -0800 From: Steve Wingate To: snetnews@world.std.com Subject: SNET: (Fwd) The Health Hazards of Natural Gas. David M. Wimberly David says that to his organization's knowledge the following is the only website on the internet that has the toxic aspects of natural gas.
For Immediate Release April 4, 1997MEDIA RELEASE NATURAL GAS LINKED TO ASTHMA, RESPIRATORY ILLNESS, ENVIRONMENTALLY INDUCED ILLNESS/CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY. Medical experts have warned that natural gas can cause serious respiratory illness, worsen allergies and pose serious dangers to those with environmental and chemical sensitivities. The findings are being presented this week by the Allergy and Environmental Health Association-Nova Scotia in partnership with the Intervention Coalition on Sable Gas as part of the environmental assessment review of the proposed Sable Gas Project. According to the British medical journal, The Lancet (Vol.347, Feb.17, 1996), exposure to natural gas increases the risk of asthma attacks, reduced lung function, increased airway obstruction and shortness of breath. According to Dr. Gerald Ross, M.D., president of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, "natural gas is a pollutant chemical that can worsen both classical allergy and chemical sensitivity." He warns that patients being treated for these problems "will have only limited success with their treatment programs, if they are living in a home that has natural gas or if they are in an area where there is natural gas transportation or leakage." A study of 47,000 patients conducted by the Environmental Health Centre in Dallas, Texas, further found that "the most important sources of indoor air pollution responsible for generating illness were the gas cook stoves, hot water heaters, and furnaces." According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 20 percent of Canadians are "unusually sensitive" to allergens or chemicals, of which natural gas a is highly significant source. "Combustion gasses and unburned fuel (including the additives) from fossil fuel appliances can be a major source of contaminants in the home," according to the Corporation. "Sufficient evidence has accumulated on the negative impact on health of using open flame gas stoves." Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have even worse rates than the rest of Canada. AEHA-NS sources judge that one-third of Maritimers have some form of compromised immune system condition and are thus at high risk for adverse effect from any further stresses such as gas to their already overworked immune systems. The evidence is being presented to the Sable Gas Project hearings by the Allergy and Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia, in association with several other health and environmental groups and the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union. The groups argue that the medical evidence indicates clearly that natural gas should be restricted to generating electrical energy, and should definitely not be introduced directly into homes, schools, hospitals, work places or other indoor uses as a source of cooking or heating. In their submission to the environmental assessment review, the groups urge that the Sable Island Gas Pipeline Project not be approved unless the medical and environmental evidence is fully investigated, and then only for electricity generation. "The problem is significant and astonishingly poorly known," the brief argues. "Immune systems already impaired by chemical exposures may be pushed over the brink by the added insult of gas exposure, thus adding numerous cases of environmental illness, asthma and allergies to Nova Scotia's and New Brunswick's already overburdened health care systems." The Allergy and Environmental Health Association and its coalition partners accuse industry groups of misrepresenting natural gas as an environmentally friendly fuel. In fact, natural gas is an asphyxiant which contains impurities and additives, which may include radon and other radioactive materials, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene), organometallic compounds such as methylmercury organoarsenic and organolead, mercaptan odorants and other toxins. When natural gas is burned, as in cooking and heating, the chemical creates nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, fine particulates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds including formaldehyde. The use of natural gas in the home will thus significantly increase indoor air pollution, says the association. Visit the Health Hazards of Natural Gas Web Site. Download the research. Detailed documentation is available at this site including the complete text of several reports: Medical-Environmental Report, Economic Implications Report, Alternatives Report and others.
For further information, please contact;The Allergy and Environmental Health Association - Nova Scotia 15 Schooner Cove Road Head of St. Margaret's Bay Nova Scotia B0J 3J0 Phone: 902-477-4022 or 826-7846 Fax: 902-826-1369 The Environmental Assessment to fully, comprehensively and fairly examine all health issues related to natural gas, especially including the indoor air pollution effects of the use of natural gas. The Environmental Assessment to commit at this time in particular to not release any use of Sable Gas for any indoor usage. The Provincial Governments of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to commit to not allow the use of natural gas for any indoor usages. This protection should be guaranteed by law. The Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to engage in a study managed co-operatively with the Allergy and Environmental Health Association - Nova Scotia and our Intervention Coalition on Sable Gas partners, said study to fully evaluate which uses of natural gas are harmful to the health of those with environmentally induced illness/chemical sensitivity, asthma, and allergy, and which uses are not harmful. The Nova Scotia Power/Consumer Gas partnership and any similar partnerships to commit to not connect any usage of natural gas for any indoor application. And for them to participate in cooperative studies with the Allergy and Environmental Health Association - Nova Scotia and our Intervention Coalition on Sable Gas partners, to study and to fully evaluate which uses of natural gas are harmful to the health of those with environmentally induced illness/chemical sensitivity, asthma, and allergy and which uses are not harmful.
Allergy and Environmental Health Association - Nova Scotia and Intervention Coalition on Sable Gas partners
Educate the general public about potential environmental threats to physical, emotional, and psychological health and well-being. Develop management strategies to reduce risks and stay healthy in an increasingly toxic world. Find solutions working together with medical, scientific, and legal communities and industry to prevent environmentally caused health problems.
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