Oil, gas drilling puts residents of Godavari district at risk: Study

HYDERABAD: People living close to oil and gas drilling sites in East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh are at risk of health issues, including cancer, due to toxic concentrations of heavy metals in soil, according to a study by the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, and Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, Ghaziabad. The study, ‘Spatial distribution, sources and health risk assessment of heavy metals in topsoil around oil and natural gas drilling sites, Andhra Pradesh, India,’ revealed disconcerting levels of heavy metals arsenic, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc, in the soil near drilling sites. The study highlighted a persistent significant risk, especially due to high concentrations of arsenic, lead, and chromium. While the ingestion of heavy metal-contaminated water might result in severe health hazards, it can also cause non-carcinogenic health problems, including malfunction of internal organs, gastrointestinal dysfunction, renal dysfunction, neurological diseases, skin lesions, vascular damage, immune system malfunction and birth abnormalities, it said.