From: Inside Climate News
With little research into the
chemicals involved, scientists can't pinpoint the cause of nosebleeds in
households near Aliso Canyon.
A resident living near SoCal Gas's leaking gas storage site
holds a protest sign at a meeting of air quality regulators on January
20, 2016. Although the leak has been plugged for now, scientists say the
long-term health risks associated with exposure to methane are unknown.
Credit: REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
One
big unknown clouds the aftermath of the Los Angeles County methane
disaster: the health effects for thousands of people living nearby who
were exposed to the gas while it leaked for three and a half months.
People from 600 households near the leak at the Aliso
Canyon gas storage unit reported headaches, nosebleeds, nausea and other
symptoms to county officials as thousands were evacuated from their
homes. It isn't known which, if any, toxic chemicals in the natural gas
may have caused the symptoms, or whether there will be long-term health
ramifications, according to environmental scientists.
"We're dealing with a gap in the science," said Michael Jerrett,
professor and chairman of the Department of Environmental Health
Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. "We just don't
have a very good scientific understanding of what that means for
long-term health effects." MORE
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