Casey and Co-authors Assess the Accuracy of Self-Reported Distance to Nearest Unconventional Oil and Gas Wells
Posted: 3/13/2024 (CSDE Research)
CSDE Affiliate Joan A. Casey (Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences) co-authored new research in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, titled “Accuracy of self-reported distance to nearest unconventional oil and gas well in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia residents and implications for exposure assessment“. The study was lead-authored by Cassandra J. Clark, a postdoctoral fellow at Yale. Self-reported distances to industrial sources have been used in epidemiology as proxies for exposure to environmental hazards and indicators of awareness and perception of sources. Unconventional oil and gas development (UOG) emits pollutants and has been associated with adverse health outcomes. We compared self-reported distance to the nearest UOG well to the geographic information system-calculated distance for 303 Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia residents using Cohen’s Weighted Kappa. Understanding differences between objective and subjective measures of UOG proximity could inform studies of perceived exposures or risks and may also be relevant to adverse health effects.