Evidence of asthma attacks included new prescriptions for steroid medicines, emergency-room treatment for asthma and asthma hospitalizations. CHICAGO (AP) " Fracking may worsen asthma in children and adults who live near sites where the oil and gas drilling method is used, according to an 8-year study in Pennsylvania. There's also no way to tell from the study whether asthma patients exposed to fracking fare worse than those exposed to more traditional gas drilling methods or to other industrial activities. But the study did not establish that fracking directly caused or worsened asthma. The researchers noted that between 2005 and 2012, more than 6,200 fracking wells were drilled in Pennsylvania.

Source: New Zealand Herald July 18, 2016 15:27 UTC