Oil causes serious health problems 507
Long-term health effects
Oil causes reproductive health problems
Breathing fumes or swallowing food or liquids contaminated by oil and
gas causes reproductive health problems such as irregular bleeding cycles,
miscarriages, stillbirths, and birth defects. These problems may have early
warning signs such as abdominal pain or irregular bleeding (see Chapter 16
for more information).
Oil causes cancer
Regular contact with oil and gas causes cancer. Children living near oil
refineries are much more likely to get cancer of the blood (leukemia) than
those who live farther away. People living in areas where oil is drilled are
much more likely to develop cancers of the stomach, bladder, and lungs than
people living in other places. Workers in oil refineries have a high risk of
cancer of the lip, stomach, liver, pancreas, connective tissue, prostate, eye,
brain, and blood. (For more information about cancer, see Chapter 16.)
When Texaco began drilling for oil in Ecuador, cancer was not known in
the region. Forty years later, it is one of the region’s worst health problems.
In 2 of the most heavily exploited oil regions of the Amazon, the community
health workers did a survey of 80 communities and found high rates of cancer,
especially cancer of the stomach, bladder, and mouth.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012