UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
MINORITY STAFF
APRIL 2011
CHEMICALS USED IN HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
PREPARED BY COMMITTEE STAFF FOR:
Henry A. Waxman
Ranking Member
Committee on Energy
and Commerce
Edward J. Markey
Ranking Member
Committee on Natural
Resources
Diana DeGette
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Oversight
and Investigations.
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING FLUIDS AND THEIR CONTENTS
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Hydraulic fracturing has helped to expand natural gas production in the
United States,
unlocking large natural gas supplies in shale and other unconventional
formations across the
country. As a result of hydraulic fracturing and advances in horizontal
drilling technology,
natural gas production in 2010 reached the highest level in decades.
According to new estimates
by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States
possesses natural gas
resources sufficient to supply the United States for approximately 110
years.
As the use of hydraulic fracturing has grown, so have concerns about its
environmental
and public health impacts. One concern is that hydraulic fracturing
fluids used to fracture rock
formations contain numerous chemicals that could harm human health and
the environment,
especially if they enter drinking water supplies. The opposition of many
oil and gas companies
to public disclosure of the chemicals they use has compounded this
concern.
Last Congress, the Committee on Energy and Commerce launched an
investigation to
examine the practice of hydraulic fracturing in the United States. As
part of that inquiry, the
Committee asked the 14 leading oil and gas service companies to disclose
the types and volumes
of the hydraulic fracturing products they used in their fluids between
2005 and 2009 and the
chemical contents of those products. This report summarizes the
information provided to the
Committee.
Between 2005 and 2009, the 14 oil and gas service companies used more
than 2,500
hydraulic fracturing products containing 750 chemicals and other
components. Overall, these
companies used 780 million gallons of hydraulic fracturing products -
not including water added
at the well site - between 2005 and 2009.
Some of the components used in the hydraulic fracturing products were
common and
generally harmless, such as salt and citric acid. Some were unexpected,
such as instant coffee
and walnut hulls. And some were extremely toxic, such as benzene and
lead. Appendix A lists
each of the 750 chemicals and other components used in hydraulic
fracturing products between
2005 and 2009.
The most widely used chemical in hydraulic fracturing during this time
period, as
measured by the number of compounds containing the chemical, was
methanol. Methanol,
which was used in 342 hydraulic fracturing products, is a hazardous air
pollutant and is on the
candidate list for potential regulation under the Safe Drinking Water
Act. Some of the other
most widely used chemicals were isopropyl alcohol (used in 274
products), 2-butoxyethanol
(used in 126 products), and ethylene glycol (used in 119 products).
Between 2005 and 2009, the oil and gas service companies used hydraulic
fracturing
products containing 29 chemicals that are (1) known or possible human
carcinogens, (2)
regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act for their risks to human
health, or (3) listed as
hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. These 29 chemicals
were components of more
than 650 different products used in hydraulic fracturing.
2
The BTEX compounds - benzene, toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene -
appeared in 60 of
the hydraulic fracturing products used between 2005 and 2009. Each BTEX
compound is a
regulated contaminant under the Safe Drinking Water Act and a hazardous
air pollutant under the
Clean Air Act. Benzene also is a known human carcinogen. The hydraulic
fracturing companies
injected 11.4 million gallons of products containing at least one BTEX
chemical over the five
year period.
In many instances, the oil and gas service companies were unable to
provide the
Committee with a complete chemical makeup of the hydraulic fracturing
fluids they used.
Between 2005 and 2009, the companies used 94 million gallons of 279
products that contained at
least one chemical or component that the manufacturers deemed
proprietary or a trade secret.
Committee staff requested that these companies disclose this proprietary
information. Although
some companies did provide information about these proprietary fluids,
in most cases the
companies stated that they did not have access to proprietary
information about products they
purchased "off the shelf" from chemical suppliers. In these cases, the
companies are injecting
fluids containing chemicals that they themselves cannot identify.
II. BACKGROUND
Hydraulic fracturing - a method by which oil and gas service companies
provide access
to domestic energy trapped in hard-to-reach geologic formations - has
been the subject of both
enthusiasm and increasing environmental and health concerns in recent
years. Hydraulic
fracturing, used in combination with horizontal drilling, has allowed
industry to access natural
gas reserves previously considered uneconomical, particularly in shale
formations. As a result of
the growing use of hydraulic fracturing, natural gas production in the
United States reached
21,577 billion cubic feet in 2010, a level not achieved since a period
of high natural gas
production between 1970 and 1974.1 Overall, the Energy Information
Administration now
projects that the United States possesses 2,552 trillion cubic feet of
potential natural gas
resources, enough to supply the United States for approximately 110
years. Natural gas from
shale resources accounts for 827 trillion cubic feet of this total,
which is more than double what
the EIA estimated just a year ago.2
Hydraulic fracturing creates access to more natural gas supplies, but
the process requires
the use of large quantities of water and fracturing fluids, which are
injected underground at high
volumes and pressure. Oil and gas service companies design fracturing
fluids to create fractures
and transport sand or other granular substances to prop open the
fractures. The composition of
these fluids varies by formation, ranging from a simple mixture of water
and sand to more
complex mixtures with a multitude of chemical additives. The companies
may use these
1 Energy Information Administration (EIA), Natural Gas Monthly (Mar.
2011), Table 1,
U.S. Natural Gas Monthly Supply and Disposition Balance (online at
www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/n9070us1A.htm) (accessed Mar. 30, 2011).
2 EIA, Annual Energy Outlook 2011 Early Release (Dec. 16, 2010); EIA,
What is shale
gas and why is it important? (online at
www.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brief/about_shale_gas.cfm)
(accessed Mar. 30, 2011).
3
chemical additives to thicken or thin the fluids, improve the flow of
the fluid, or kill bacteria that
can reduce fracturing performance.3
Some of these chemicals, if not disposed of safely or allowed to leach
into the drinking
water supply, could damage the environment or pose a risk to human
health. During hydraulic
fracturing, fluids containing chemicals are injected deep underground,
where their migration is
not entirely predictable. Well failures, such as the use of insufficient
well casing, could lead to
their release at shallower depths, closer to drinking water supplies.4
Although some fracturing
fluids are removed from the well at the end of the fracturing process, a
substantial amount
remains underground.5
While most underground injections of chemicals are subject to the
protections of the Safe
Drinking Water Act (SDWA), Congress in 2005 modified the law to exclude
"the underground
injection of fluids or propping agents (other than diesel fuels)
pursuant to hydraulic fracturing
operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities"
from the Act’s protections.6
Unless oil and gas service companies use diesel in the hydraulic
fracturing process, the
permanent underground injection of chemicals used for hydraulic
fracturing is not regulated by
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Concerns also have been raised about the ultimate outcome of chemicals
that are
recovered and disposed of as wastewater. This wastewater is stored in
tanks or pits at the well
site, where spills are possible.7 For final disposal, well operators
must either recycle the fluids
for use in future fracturing jobs, inject it into underground storage
wells (which, unlike the
fracturing process itself, are subject to the Safe Drinking Water Act),
discharge it to nearby
surface water, or transport it to wastewater treatment facilities.8 A
recent report in the New York
3 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Evaluation of Impacts to
Underground Sources
of Drinking Water by Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs
(June 2004) (EPA
816-R-04-003) at 4-1 and 4-2.
4 For instance, Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection
has cited Cabot
Oil & Gas Corporation for contamination of drinking water wells with
seepage caused by weak
casing or improper cementing of a natural gas well. See Officials in
Three States Pin Water
Woes on Gas Drilling, ProPublica (Apr. 26, 2009) (online at
www.propublica.org/article/officials-in-three-states-pin-water-woes-on-
gas-drilling-426)
(accessed Mar. 24, 2011).
5 John A. Veil, Argonne National Laboratory, Water Management
Technologies Used by
Marcellus Shale Gas Producers, prepared for the Department of Energy
(July 2010), at 13
(hereinafter "Water Management Technologies").
6 42 U.S.C. § 300h(d). Many dubbed this provision the "Halliburton
loophole" because
of Halliburton’s ties to then-Vice President Cheney and its role as one
of the largest providers of
hydraulic fracturing services. See The Halliburton Loophole, New York
Times (Nov. 9. 2009).
7 See EPA, Draft Hydraulic Fracturing Study Plan (Feb. 7, 2011), at 37;
Regulation Lax
as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers, New York Times (Feb. 26, 2011).
8 Water Management Technologies, at 13.
4
Times raised questions about the safety of surface water discharge and
the ability of water
treatment facilities to process wastewater from natural gas drilling
operations.9
Any risk to the environment and human health posed by fracturing fluids
depends in large
part on their contents. Federal law, however, contains no public
disclosure requirements for oil
and gas producers or service companies involved in hydraulic fracturing,
and state disclosure
requirements vary greatly.10 While the industry has recently announced
that it soon will create a
public database of fluid components, reporting to this database is
strictly voluntary, disclosure
will not include the chemical identity of products labeled as
proprietary, and there is no way to
determine if companies are accurately reporting information for all
wells.11
The absence of a minimum national baseline for disclosure of fluids
injected during the
hydraulic fracturing process and the exemption of most hydraulic
fracturing injections from
regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act has left an informational
void concerning the
contents, chemical concentrations, and volumes of fluids that go into
the ground during
fracturing operations and return to the surface in the form of
wastewater. As a result, regulators
and the public are unable effectively to assess any impact the use of
these fluids may have on the
environment or public health.
III. METHODOLOGY
On February 18, 2010, the Committee commenced an investigation into the
practice of
hydraulic fracturing and its potential impact on water quality across
the United States. This
investigation built on work begun by Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman in
2007 as Chairman
of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The Committee
initially sent letters to
eight oil and gas service companies engaged in hydraulic fracturing in
the United States. In May
2010, the Committee sent letters to six additional oil and gas service
companies to assess a
9 Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers, New York Times
(Feb. 26,
2011).
10 Wyoming, for example, recently enacted relatively strong disclosure
regulations,
requiring disclosure on a well-by-well basis and "for each stage of the
well stimulation
program," "the chemical additives, compounds and concentrations or
rates proposed to be mixed
and injected." See WCWR 055-000-003 Sec. 45. Similar regulations became
effective in
Arkansas this year. See Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission Rule B-19. In
Wyoming, much of
this information is, after an initial period of review, available to the
public. See WCWR 055-
000-003 Sec. 21. Other states, however, do not insist on such robust
disclosure. For instance,
West Virginia has no disclosure requirements for hydraulic fracturing
and expressly exempts
fluids used during hydraulic fracturing from the disclosure requirements
applicable to
underground injection of fluids for purposes of waste storage. See W.
Va. Code St. R. § 34-5-7.
11 See Ground Water Protection Council Calls for Disclosure of Chemicals
Used in Shale
Gas Exploration, Ground Water Protection Council (Oct. 5, 2010) (online
at
www.wqpmag.com/Ground-Water-Protection-Council-Calls-for-Disclosure-of-
Chemicals-in-
Shale-Gas-Exploration-newsPiece21700) (accessed Mar. 24, 2011).
5
broader range of industry practices.12 The February and May letters
requested information on
the type and volume of chemicals present in the hydraulic fracturing
products that each company
used in their fluids between 2005 and 2009.
The 14 oil and gas service companies that received the letter
voluntarily provided
substantial information to the Committee. As requested, the companies
reported the names and
volumes of the products they used during the five-year period.13 For
each hydraulic fracturing
product reported, the companies also provided a Material Safety Data
Sheet (MSDS) detailing
the product’s chemical components. The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
(OSHA) requires chemical manufacturers to create a MSDS for every
product they sell as a
means to communicate potential health and safety hazards to employees
and employers. The
MSDS must list all hazardous ingredients if they comprise at least 1% of
the product; for
carcinogens, the reporting threshold is 0.1%.14
Under OSHA regulations, manufacturers may withhold the identity of
chemical
components that constitute "trade secrets."15 If the MSDS for a
particular product used by a
company subject to the Committee’s investigation reported that the
identity of any chemical
component was a trade secret, the Committee asked the company that used
that product to
provide the proprietary information, if available.
IV. HYDRAULIC FRACTURING FLUIDS AND THEIR CONTENTS
Between 2005 and 2009, the 14 oil and gas service companies used more
than 2,500
hydraulic fracturing products containing 750 chemicals and other
components.16 Overall, these
companies used 780 million gallons of hydraulic fracturing products in
their fluids between 2005
and 2009. This volume does not include water that the companies added to
the fluids at the well
site before injection. The products are comprised of a wide range of
chemicals. Some are
seemingly harmless like sodium chloride (salt), gelatin, and citric
acid. Others could pose a
severe risk to human health or the environment.
12 The Committee sent letters to Basic Energy Services, BJ Services,
Calfrac Well
Services, Complete Production Services, Frac Tech Services, Halliburton,
Key Energy Services,
RPC, Sanjel Corporation, Schlumberger, Superior Well Services, Trican
Well Service, Universal
Well Services, and Weatherford.
13 BJ Services, Halliburton, and Schlumberger already had provided the
Oversight
Committee with data for 2005 through 2007. For BJ Services, the 2005-
2007 data is limited to
natural gas wells. For Schlumberger, the 2005-2007 data is limited to
coalbed methane wells.
14 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2)(i)(C)(1).
15 29 CFR 1910.1200.
16 Each hydraulic fracturing "product" is a mixture of chemicals or
other components
designed to achieve a certain performance goal, such as increasing the
viscosity of water. Some
oil and gas service companies create their own products; most purchase
these products from
chemical vendors. The service companies then mix these products together
at the well site to
formulate the hydraulic fracturing fluids that they pump underground.
6
Some of the components were surprising. One company told the Committee
that it used
instant coffee as one of the components in a fluid designed to inhibit
acid corrosion. Two
companies reported using walnut hulls as part of a breaker-a product
used to degrade the
fracturing fluid viscosity, which helps to enhance post-fracturing fluid
recovery. Another
company reported using carbohydrates as a breaker. One company used
tallow soap-soap
made from beef, sheep, or other animals-to reduce loss of fracturing
fluid into the exposed
rock.
Appendix A lists each of the 750 chemicals and other components used in
the hydraulic
fracturing products injected underground between 2005 and 2009.
A. Commonly Used Chemical Components
The most widely used chemical in hydraulic fracturing during this time
period, as
measured by the number of products containing the chemical, was
methanol. Methanol is a
hazardous air pollutant and a candidate for regulation under the Safe
Drinking Water Act. It was
a component in 342 hydraulic fracturing products. Some of the other most
widely used
chemicals include isopropyl alcohol, which was used in 274 products, and
ethylene glycol, which
was used in 119 products. Crystalline silica (silicon dioxide) appeared
in 207 products, generally
proppants used to hold open fractures. Table 1 has a list of the most
commonly used compounds
in hydraulic fracturing fluids.
Table 1. Chemical Components Appearing Most Often in
Hydraulic Fracturing Products Used Between 2005 and 2009
Chemical Component
No. of
Products
Containing
Chemical
Methanol (Methyl alcohol) 342
Isopropanol (Isopropyl alcohol, Propan-2-ol) 274
Crystalline silica - quartz (SiO2) 207
Ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (2-butoxyethanol) 126
Ethylene glycol (1,2-ethanediol) 119
Hydrotreated light petroleum distillates 89
Sodium hydroxide (Caustic soda) 80
7
Hydraulic fracturing companies used 2-butoxyethanol (2-BE) as a foaming
agent or
surfactant in 126 products. According to EPA scientists, 2-BE is easily
absorbed and rapidly
distributed in humans following inhalation, ingestion, or dermal
exposure. Studies have shown
that exposure to 2-BE can cause hemolysis (destruction of red blood
cells) and damage to the
spleen, liver, and bone marrow.17 The hydraulic fracturing companies
injected 21.9 million
gallons of products containing 2-BE between 2005 and 2009. They used the
highest volume of
products containing 2-BE in Texas, which accounted for more than half of
the volume used.
EPA recently found this chemical in drinking water wells tested in
Pavillion, Wyoming.18 Table
2 shows the use of 2-BE by state.
Table 2. States with the Highest Volume of
Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids Containing
2-Butoxyethanol (2005-2009)
State
Fluid Volume
(gallons)
Texas 12,031,734
Oklahoma 2,186,613
New Mexico 1,871,501
Colorado 1,147,614
Louisiana 890,068
Pennsylvania 747,416
West Virginia 464,231
Utah 382,874
Montana 362,497
Arkansas 348,959
17 EPA, Toxicological Review of Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether (Mar.
2010) at 4.
18 EPA, Fact Sheet: January 2010 Sampling Results and Site Update,
Pavillion,
Wyoming Groundwater Investigation (Aug. 2010) (online at
www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/wy/pavillion/PavillionWyomingFactSheet.pdf
) (accessed Mar.
1, 2011).
8
B. Toxic Chemicals
The oil and gas service companies used hydraulic fracturing products
containing 29
chemicals that are (1) known or possible human carcinogens, (2)
regulated under the Safe
Drinking Water Act for their risks to human health, or (3) listed as
hazardous air pollutants under
the Clean Air Act. These 29 chemicals were components of 652 different
products used in
hydraulic fracturing. Table 3 lists these toxic chemicals and their
frequency of use.
Table 3. Chemicals Components of Concern: Carcinogens, SDWA-
Regulated
Chemicals, and Hazardous Air Pollutants
Chemical Component Chemical Category
No. of
Products
Methanol (Methyl alcohol) HAP 342
Ethylene glycol (1,2-ethanediol) HAP 119
Diesel19 Carcinogen, SDWA, HAP 51
Naphthalene Carcinogen, HAP 44
Xylene SDWA, HAP 44
Hydrogen chloride (Hydrochloric acid) HAP 42
Toluene SDWA, HAP 29
Ethylbenzene SDWA, HAP 28
Diethanolamine (2,2-iminodiethanol) HAP 14
Formaldehyde Carcinogen, HAP 12
Sulfuric acid Carcinogen 9
Thiourea Carcinogen 9
Benzyl chloride Carcinogen, HAP 8
Cumene HAP 6
Nitrilotriacetic acid Carcinogen 6
Dimethyl formamide HAP 5
Phenol HAP 5
Benzene Carcinogen, SDWA, HAP 3
Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate Carcinogen, SDWA, HAP 3
Acrylamide Carcinogen, SDWA, HAP 2
Hydrogen fluoride (Hydrofluoric acid) HAP 2
Phthalic anhydride HAP 2
Acetaldehyde Carcinogen, HAP 1
Acetophenone HAP 1
Copper SDWA 1
Ethylene oxide Carcinogen, HAP 1
Lead Carcinogen, SDWA, HAP 1
Propylene oxide Carcinogen, HAP 1
p-Xylene HAP 1
Number of Products Containing a Component of Concern 652
19 According to EPA, diesel contains benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and
xylenes. See
EPA, Evaluation of Impacts to Underground Sources of Drinking Water by
Hydraulic
Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs (June 2004) (EPA 816-R-04-003)
at 4-11.
9
- Carcinogens
Between 2005 and 2009, the hydraulic fracturing companies used 95
products containing
13 different carcinogens.20 These included naphthalene (a possible human
carcinogen), benzene
(a known human carcinogen), and acrylamide (a probable human
carcinogen). Overall, these
companies injected 10.2 million gallons of fracturing products
containing at least one
carcinogen. The companies used the highest volume of fluids containing
one or more
carcinogens in Texas, Colorado, and Oklahoma. Table 4 shows the use of
these chemicals by
state.
Table 4. States with at Least 100,000
Gallons of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids
Containing a Carcinogen (2005-2009)
State
Fluid Volume
(gallons)
Texas 3,877,273
Colorado 1,544,388
Oklahoma 1,098,746
Louisiana 777,945
Wyoming 759,898
North Dakota 557,519
New Mexico 511,186
Montana 394,873
Utah 382,338
- Safe Drinking Water Act Chemicals
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA regulates 53 chemicals that may
have an
adverse effect on human health and are known to or likely to occur in
public drinking water
systems at levels of public health concern. Between 2005 and 2009, the
hydraulic fracturing
companies used 67 products containing at least one of eight SDWA-
regulated chemicals.
Overall, they injected 11.7 million gallons of fracturing products
containing at least one chemical
regulated under SDWA. Most of these chemicals were injected in Texas.
Table 5 shows the use
of these chemicals by state.
20 For purposes of this report, a chemical is considered a "carcinogen"
if it is on one of
two lists: (1) substances identified by the National Toxicology Program
as "known to be human
carcinogens" or as "reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens";
and (2) substances
identified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of
the World Health
Organization, as "carcinogenic" or "probably carcinogenic" to humans.
See U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Toxicology
Program, Report on
Carcinogens, Eleventh Edition (Jan. 31, 2005) and World Health
Organization, International
Agency for Research on Cancer, Agents Classified by the IARC Monographs
(online at
http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/index.php) (accessed Feb.
28, 2011).
10
The vast majority of these SDWA-regulated chemicals were the BTEX
compounds -
benzene, toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene. The BTEX compounds appeared
in 60 hydraulic
fracturing products used between 2005 and 2009 and were used in 11.4
million gallons of
hydraulic fracturing fluids. The Department of Health and Human
Services, the International
Agency for Research on Cancer, and EPA have determined that benzene is a
human
carcinogen.21 Chronic exposure to toluene, ethylbenzene, or xylenes also
can damage the central
nervous system, liver, and kidneys.22
Table 5. States with at Least 100,000 Gallons of
Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids Containing a SDWARegulated
Chemical (2005-2009)
State
Fluid Volume
(gallons)
Texas 9,474,631
New Mexico 1,157,721
Colorado 375,817
Oklahoma 202,562
Mississippi 108,809
North Dakota 100,479
In addition, the hydraulic fracturing companies injected more than 30
million gallons of
diesel fuel or hydraulic fracturing fluids containing diesel fuel in
wells in 19 states.23 In a 2004
report, EPA stated that the "use of diesel fuel in fracturing fluids
poses the greatest threat" to
underground sources of drinking water.24 Diesel fuel contains toxic
constituents, including
BTEX compounds.25
EPA also has created a Candidate Contaminant List (CCL), which is a list
of
contaminants that are currently not subject to national primary drinking
water regulations but are
known or anticipated to occur in public water systems and may require
regulation under the Safe
Drinking Water Act in the future.26 Nine chemicals on that list-1-
butanol, acetaldehyde, benzyl
21 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic
Substances and
Disease Registry, Public Health Statement for Benzene (Aug. 2007).
22 EPA, Basic Information about Toluene in Drinking Water, Basic
Information about
Ethylbenzene in Drinking Water, and Basic Information about Xylenes in
Drinking Water (online
at http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/index.cfm)
(accessed Oct. 14,
2010).
23 Letter from Reps. Henry A. Waxman, Edward J. Markey, and Diana
DeGette to the
Honorable Lisa Jackson, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (Jan. 31, 2011).
24 EPA, Evaluation of Impacts to Underground Sources of Drinking Water
by Hydraulic
Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs (June 2004) (EPA 816-R-04-003)
at 4-11.
25 Id.
26 EPA, Contaminant Candidate List 3 (online at
http://water.epa.gov/scitech/drinkingwater/dws/ccl/ccl3.cfm) (accessed
Mar. 31, 2011).
11
chloride, ethylene glycol, ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, methanol, n-
methyl-2-pyrrolidone, and
propylene oxide-were used in hydraulic fracturing products between 2005
and 2009.
- Hazardous Air Pollutants
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to control the emission of 187 hazardous
air pollutants,
which are pollutants that cause or may cause cancer or other serious
health effects, such as
reproductive effects or birth defects, or adverse environmental and
ecological effects.27 Between
2005 and 2009, the hydraulic fracturing companies used 595 products
containing 24 different
hazardous air pollutants.
Hydrogen fluoride is a hazardous air pollutant that is a highly
corrosive and systemic
poison that causes severe and sometimes delayed health effects due to
deep tissue penetration.
Absorption of substantial amounts of hydrogen fluoride by any route may
be fatal.28 One of the
hydraulic fracturing companies used 67,222 gallons of two products
containing hydrogen
fluoride in 2008 and 2009.
Lead is a hazardous air pollutant that is a heavy metal that is
particularly harmful to
children’s neurological development. It also can cause health problems
in adults, including
reproductive problems, high blood pressure, and nerve disorders.29 One
of the hydraulic
fracturing companies used 780 gallons of a product containing lead in
this five-year period.
Methanol is the hazardous air pollutant that appeared most often in
hydraulic fracturing
products. Other hazardous air pollutants used in hydraulic fracturing
fluids included
formaldehyde, hydrogen chloride, and ethylene glycol.
V. USE OF PROPRIETARY AND "TRADE SECRET" CHEMICALS
Many chemical components of hydraulic fracturing fluids used by the
companies were
listed on the MSDSs as "proprietary" or "trade secret." The hydraulic
fracturing companies used
- 6 million gallons of 279 products containing at least one proprietary
component between 2005
and 2009.30
27 Clea