Littleton Equine Medical Center, 8025 S. Santa Fe Dr., Littleton, CO 80120, USA; Department of Clinical Sciences, Tower Rd., College of Veterinary Medicine-Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Agricultural Life Sciences, Room 1007, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Aug 20;731:138497. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138497. Epub 2020 May 5.
Studies of neonatal health risks of unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) have not included comprehensive assessments of environmental chemical exposures. We investigated a clustering of dysphagic cases in neonatal foals born between 2014 and 2016 in an area of active UNGD in Pennsylvania (PA),USA. We evaluated equine biological data and environmental exposures on the affected PA farm and an unaffected New York (NY) farm owned by the same proprietor. Dams either spent their entire gestation on one farm or moved to the other farm in late gestation. Over the 21-month study period, physical examinations and blood/tissue samples were obtained from mares and foals on each farm. Grab samples of water, pasture soil and feed were collected; continuous passive sampling of air and water for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was performed. Dysphagia was evaluated as a binary variable; logistic regression was used to identify risk factors. Sixty-five foals were born, 17 (all from PA farm) were dysphagic. Odds of dysphagia increased with the dam residing on the PA farm for each additional month of gestation (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.2, 1.7, p = 6.0E-04). Males were more likely to be born dysphagic (OR = 5.5, 95% CI 1.2, 24.5, p = 0.03) than females. Prior to installation of a water filtration/treatment system, PA water concentrations of 3,6-dimethylphenanthrene (p = 6.0E-03), fluoranthene (p = 0.03), pyrene (p = 0.02) and triphenylene (p = 0.01) exceeded those in NY water. Compared to NY farm water, no concentrations of PAHs were higher in PA following installation of the water filtration/treatment system. We provide evidence of an uncommon adverse health outcome (dysphagia) in foals born near UNGD that was eliminated in subsequent years (2017-2019) following environmental management changes. Notably, this study demonstrates that domestic large animals such as horses can serve as important sentinels for human health risks associated with UNGD activities.
针对非常规天然气开发（UNGD）对新生儿健康风险的研究尚未包括对环境化学暴露的综合评估。我们调查了在美国宾夕法尼亚州（PA）一个活跃的 UNGD 地区，2014 年至 2016 年间出生的患有吞咽困难的新生驹的聚类情况。我们评估了受影响的 PA 农场和同一所有者拥有的未受影响的纽约（NY）农场的马的生物数据和环境暴露情况。母马要么在一个农场度过整个妊娠期，要么在妊娠后期转移到另一个农场。在 21 个月的研究期间，从每个农场的母马和驹身上采集了体格检查和血液/组织样本。采集了水、牧场土壤和饲料的抓取样本；对空气和水进行了多环芳烃的连续被动采样。将吞咽困难评估为二项变量；使用逻辑回归来识别危险因素。共出生了 65 匹马驹，其中 17 匹（均来自 PA 农场）患有吞咽困难。母马在 PA 农场的妊娠时间每增加一个月，吞咽困难的可能性就会增加（OR = 1.4，95%CI 1.2，1.7，p = 6.0E-04）。雄性驹比雌性驹更有可能出生时患有吞咽困难（OR = 5.5，95%CI 1.2，24.5，p = 0.03）。在安装水过滤/处理系统之前，PA 水中的 3,6-二甲基菲（p = 6.0E-03）、荧蒽（p = 0.03）、芘（p = 0.02）和三苯并芘（p = 0.01）的浓度均高于 NY 水中的浓度。在安装水过滤/处理系统后，与 NY 农场的水相比，PA 水中没有一种多环芳烃的浓度更高。我们提供了在 UNGD 附近出生的驹中罕见的不良健康后果（吞咽困难）的证据，并且在随后的几年（2017-2019 年）中，随着环境管理的变化，这种情况已经消除。值得注意的是，这项研究表明，家养大型动物（如马）可以作为与 UNGD 活动相关的人类健康风险的重要哨兵。
