Warning on fracking's chemicals

MORE than 60 of the chemicals likely to be used in fracking operations in the Karoo have nearly a dozen adverse health effects each, research has indicated.

In a report, published in the latest edition of the South African Medical Journal, the authors – the Anglican Church of Southern Africa's environmental coordinator Dr Rachel Mash, head of Family Medicine at the University of Stellenbosch Dr Bob Mash and fracking researcher Jolynn Minnaar – called for doctors to urgently join the debate on the impact fracking was likely to have on health.

"Health concerns have not been fully addressed in policy making," Dr Rachel Mash wrote in the report.

"A full health impact assessment must be done before companies are given the go-ahead to drill." - Estelle Ellis