Abstract
Because of calculation errors, researchers have retracted a 2015 study of airborne pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) near fracking sites in Ohio. The study concluded that PAH levels posed an elevated cancer risk to area residents and workers. In a new paper, the team reports corrected PAH values that are about 0.4% of those originally reported. In contrast to the original study’s conclusions, the researchers estimate that exposure to these PAH levels does not exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s acceptable risk levels for cancer (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b02762). PAHs are found in fossil fuels and can get into the air during natural gas extraction and via vehicle exhaust. Because of the compounds’ link with cancer and respiratory illness, Kim A. Anderson of Oregon State University and her collaborators set out in winter 2014 to measure their airborne concentrations in Carroll County, Ohio, an area with high
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