Coal seam gas water: potential hazards and exposure pathways in Queensland.
The extraction of coal seam gas (CSG) produces large volumes of potentially contaminated water. It has raised concerns about the environmental health impacts of the co-produced CSG water. In this paper, we review CSG water contaminants and their potential health effects in the context of exposure pathways in Queensland's CSG basins. The hazardous substances associated with CSG water in Queensland include fluoride, boron, lead and benzene. The exposure pathways for CSG water are (1) water used for municipal purposes; (2) recreational water activities in rivers; (3) occupational exposures; (4) water extracted from contaminated aquifers; and (5) indirect exposure through the food chain. We recommend mapping of exposure pathways into communities in CSG regions to determine the potentially exposed populations in Queensland. Future efforts to monitor chemicals of concern and consolidate them into a central database will build the necessary capability to undertake a much needed environmental health impact assessment.
a School of Population Health, University of Queensland , Brisbane , Australia.
Maryam
M
Navi
Chris
C
Skelly
Mauricio
M
Taulis
Shahram
S
Nasiri
D003031:Coal; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D020387:Food Chain; D060587:Groundwater / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008906:Mining; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011793:Queensland; D011998:Recreation; D045483:Rivers; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D003031:Coal; D060766:Drinking Water; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Queensland; coal seam gas water; exposure pathways; hazards