This paper forms part of a special series on the Impact of Real-Life Environmental Exposures on Reproduction. The Guest Editors for this special series were Professor Jodi A Flaws (University of Illinois, IL, USA) and Professor Emerita (in service) Vasantha Padmanabhan (University of Michigan, MI, USA).
Unconventional oil and natural gas (UOG) operations, particularly hydraulic fracturing, have revolutionized oil and gas production, using and containing complex mixtures of chemicals that may impact reproductive health. While there is growing evidence for effects on births in hydraulic fracturing/UOG regions and good mechanistic evidence for potential reproductive toxicity, there is much research still needed to make firm conclusions about these practices and reproductive health.
Unconventional oil and natural gas (UOG) operations have emerged over the last four decades to transform oil and gas production in the United States and globally by unlocking previously inaccessible hydrocarbon deposits. UOG development utilizes many compounds associated with conventional oil and gas, as well as some specific to UOG extraction, particularly during hydraulic fracturing (HF). While research is increasing on UOG chemicals and their mixtures, this review discusses the current evidence for reproductive toxicity following exposures to UOG/HF mixtures. These complex chemical mixtures have been demonstrated to interact with numerous mechanisms known to influence reproductive health. A growing number of environmental and controlled laboratory testing studies have reported adverse reproductive health effects in animals exposed to various UOG chemical mixtures. An expanding body of epidemiological literature has assessed adverse birth outcomes, although none has directly examined reproductive measures such as time to pregnancy, semen quality, and other direct measures of fertility. The existing literature provides moderate evidence for decreased birth weights, increased risk of small for gestational age and/or preterm birth, increased congenital abnormalities, and increased infant mortality, though importantly, studies are widely variable in methods used. Most studies utilized distance from UOG operations as an exposure proxy and did not measure actual chemical exposures experienced by those living near these operations. As such, while there is growing evidence for effects on births in these regions and good mechanistic evidence for potential reproductive toxicity, there is much research still needed to make firm conclusions about UOG development and reproductive health.
Reproduction is committed to supporting researchers in demonstrating the impact of their articles published in the journal.
The two types of article metrics we measure are (i) more traditional full-text views and pdf downloads, and (ii) Altmetric data, which shows the wider impact of articles in a range of non-traditional sources, such as social media.
More information is on the Reasons to publish page.
| Sept 2018 onwards | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Text Views | 111 | 111 | 20 |
| PDF Downloads | 127 | 127 | 23 |
Online ISSN: 1741-7899
Print ISSN: 1470-1626
Strengthening biomedical communities
to advance science and health
CONTACT US
Bioscientifica Ltd | Starling House | 1600 Bristol Parkway North | Bristol BS34 8YU | UK
Bioscientifica Ltd | Registered in England no 3190519
