DEA National Chair Dr John Van Der Kallen has welcomed a comprehensive report, based on a review of over 300 peer-reviewed studies, that demonstrates the health risks of fracking projects.

Fracking can expose people to a variety of illnesses such as cancer, birth defects, asthma, cardiovascular disease and other harms.

“Most concerning is the effects on pregnant women, on unborn children, then infants and then children, because many of these chemicals will then accumulate in a small human’s body and have impacts for decades,” he said.

The report on the risks of gas and oil developments to health was co-authored by Prof Melissa Haswell, Prof David Shearman, Jacob Hegedus, and Prof Lisa Jackson Pulver.

The report is in response to more than 2,000 doctors and health professionals signing a letter to the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese in August.

The doctors demanded the government reconsider subsidising the Northern Territory’s Middle Arm project and “intervene to prevent gas fracking in the Beetaloo Basin”.

The full story was published in The Guardian on 4 September 2023