The study builds on a small body of previous research, but Colorado’s oil and gas industry strongly disputes the findings.
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A new study found that children diagnosed with a form of leukemia between 2002 to 2019, during Colorado’s hydraulic fracturing boom, were more likely to live near oil and gas well sites than children without cancer.
Children between 2-9 years old who lived within 3.1 miles of wells with high activity faced the greatest risk of developing acute lymphocytic leukemia, compared to those living farther away from significant operations. Overall, Colorado children between 2-9 years with the cancer were more likely to live within 8.1 miles of an oil or gas site, compared to children without the disease. The research was published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
