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Shale Gas & Public Health Conference: Dr. Pouné Saberi, MD Speaks On How Healthcare Providers Can Better Serve Individuals Exposed To Health Threats From Shale Gas Development

On February 27, the Physicians for Social Responsibility PA, the League of Women Voters of PA, and the Department of Environmental and Energy Engineering at Duquesne University hosted a Shale Gas and Public Health Conference in Pittsburgh and online.

The Conference brought together scientists, public health experts, industry leaders, and advocacy groups to explore the latest research and insights on unconventional oil and gas development, its environmental impact and associated health risks, and community wins and responses.

PA Environment Digest is highlighting the remarks of several speakers at the Conference on these important issues.

Dr. Pouné Saberi, MD, MPH

Dr. Pouné Saberi, MD, MPH is a clinician and a healthcare provider in the field of occupational and environmental medicine in Philadelphia.

She is responsible for planning and delivering population-based employee and environmental health services at the Veteran Administration (VA) Medical Center in Philadelphia, as well as clinical consultation to eight other facilities in the VA network.

She teaches OEM to residents in a non-traditional immersion residency program and a climate and health course at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in New Jersey which addresses community adaptation and mitigation as well as resilience within the healthcare system.

She received her medical degree and Master of Public Health at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, MA.

She has served as past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility National and continues to be a board member for the Pennsylvania chapter.

Dr. Saberi spoke about bridging the gap between healthcare providers and how to better service individuals exposed to health threats from shale gas development.

Here is a transcript of her remarks--

I'm Pouné Saberi, and I really appreciate the opportunity to come here today to share some of my thoughts with you.

I know we have a hundred, more than 110 people online, and as a physician, I'm here to really speak to the perspective of the clinician and the healthcare provider, as well as those who go to their healthcare providers, concerned about environmental exposures and, really, to bridge the gap between a lot of what we've heard so far and what we'll hear for the rest of the day into what happens in clinical practice.

I'd love to know, of the folks who are online and of the folks who are in the audience, how many of you are practicing healthcare providers? If you can raise your hand so that I can know. Great. Thank you. Thank you.

Where We’ve Come From In 15 Years

Okay. I'm an occupational and environmental medicine physician, and I want to talk about the historical arc of where we've come from, in the last 15 years.

Because, as early as 2010, and I know that the onset of shale gas activities in Pennsylvania started before that, but really, my involvement started in 2010.

And, at that time, I was witness to Pennsylvania community residents expressing concern about their health and their proximity to shale gas operations.

And we'll hear this theme a lot.

They went to their doctors, other healthcare providers, they were frustrated because they were maybe dismissed, the provider maybe lacked the knowledge to address their issues, and then ultimately, there was a lack of solutions.

On the other hand, these providers were bewildered. And, really, at that time there was no research to guide clinical decision-making.

And I know there are people in the audience here today who can attest to how little research existed at that time, in contrast to what we're hearing today.

Fast-forward to 15 years and we're sitting here, and there's been an outpouring of studies, and many of them do have clinical implications.

And yet, just last month, PSRPA hosted a webinar that was titled-- How the Environment Threatens Your Health and How to Talk to Your Doctor About It.

That webinar was prompted by conversations with residents who were expressing the same concerns 15 years ago.

They were living in relation to exposure to shale gas operations.

They were residents and workers who would go and they would try to talk about these exposure concerns, but didn't have satisfactory answers.

And so, it's been the same scenario despite all of this research.

So how does the gap between research findings translate into clinical practice? How do we fill that gap?

In my opinion, that really should be spearheaded by medical and public health institutions, like Pennsylvania Department of Health and other Pennsylvania medical societies.

The Department of Health, at that time, was not always really leading the effort. But, in the past few years, they've made progress on disseminating information.

And last month, there was an ECHO webinar [with Penn State Medical Part I - Environmental Impacts; Part 2 - Health Impacts].

That's a good example of this, because they outlined a lot of the health issues.

I really, I don't know if I can say the same for other county medical societies. Because, as far as I know, there haven't been a lot of endeavors in really trying to translate research into clinical practice.

In the absence of those organizations, other organizations, like PSRPA [Physicians for Social Responsibility] and like EHP, Environmental Health Project, with Alison, that you'll hear from, they've been doing a really great job educating and answering questions.

Highlights From Multiple Studies

So I'll use the next few minutes to highlight how the findings from studies, like the [University of] Pittsburgh studies that came out, I think it's two years, year and a half ago now, maybe, can be clinically relevant.

And I will add that the weight of the evidence from these studies is at least just as strong as many other medical practices that are promoted with a lot less research.

Respiratory Health

So, number one, I'm going to talk about respiratory health. That's intuitive.

Oil and gas operations produce enormous air pollutants and air pollution exposure has repercussions for ear, nose, and throat, as well as the respiratory tract.

These studies found that asthma attacks and hospitalizations increase during the production phase of wells for those living within 10 miles.

So, how can clinicians incorporate this into practice?

Most people who live near these industries know the name of the well and they know exactly how far they are from it.

So the clinician should document that in their record and implement a health diary that tracks the symptoms, like shortness of breath, nighttime cough, and initiate a robust treatment regimen that prevents aggravation and hospitalization.

Cardiovascular Health

Number two, cardiovascular health. The connection between air pollution and cardiovascular health is not immediately obvious, but the literature linking the two is large, specifically for oil-and gas-related air pollution.

Heart attacks increased, heart failure increased, as did hospitalizations for them.

So, the clinicians should consider, again, the location, the zip code proximity to calculation of the risk of heart disease, in addition to all those other established risk factors that we hear a lot about, like smoking and diabetes, et cetera, and have a higher index of suspicion for obtaining things like echocardiograms and stress tests when their patients have risk factors and live within proximity of these operations.

Pediatric Cancers

Number three, pediatric cancers. Living within one mile of a [shale gas] well increases the risk of lymphoma in children.

So the primary care provider, again, should document that proximity and then monitor recurring infections.

A lot of babies present with, let's say, recurrent ear infections that they don't respond to antibiotics, and so check complete blood counts for things like lymphocytes.

Perinatal Health

Number four, perinatal health. I loved the term that Mary used, small vulnerable newborns.

A lot of studies have shown that low birth weight being small for gestational age, prematurity, occur in babies born to families living within 10 miles from wells.

And this where I think [the] Department of Health can really do educational campaigns for women who are planning to become pregnant, who are already pregnant, and institute services to check on them.

Help them with transportation, take them to appointments, review signs and symptoms of preterm labor with them.

Depression, Anxiety

Number five, there are other general considerations, like depression, anxiety that we heard about, and then these other population-based measures that should be considered, like screening for communicable diseases.

Workplace Hazards

Lastly, as an occupational and environmental medicine physician, I would be remiss if I did not mention workplace hazards.

The extractive industries have the third-highest fatality rates than any other industry, and they have very high motor-vehicle accident rates.

They have occupational noise exposure and, therefore, result in hearing loss.

They have high suicide rates, silica exposure and, in general, self-reports of poor health.

So the providers who take care of workers, occupational medicine doctors, they need to take into consideration audiograms, screening for faculties that ensure safe driving, like a good neurological exam, mental health screenings, and access to good respiratory protective equipment.

In summary, the research landscape has changed a lot since 2010 when you [could] count on one hand the number of studies in relation to fracking at that time.

But the application to medical practice has been really lagging and organizations are doing a great job in addressing the concerns of patients and workers, but the established institutions really need to do more.

No Change In Political Landscape

I'll end by iterating what is glaringly and disappointingly unchanged, despite the change in the political party in power, and that is the fact that there's been no change in the political landscape and the measures that have been put in place to protect residents and workers.

Thank you so much.

Visit the PA League of Women Voters Shale Gas and Public Health in 2025 - New Directions webpage for videos of the Conference presentation [when posted].

2025 Shale Gas Health Conference Presentations:

-- Shale Gas & Public Health Conference: Dr. Pouné Saberi, MD Speaks On How Healthcare Providers Can Better Serve Individuals Exposed To Health Threats From Shale Gas Development [PaEN]

-- Shale Gas & Public Health Conference: Alison Steele, Environmental Health Project - The Science Is In, Shale Gas Development Harming Public Health - Arming People To Prevent, Reduce Harm [PaEN]

-- Shale Gas & Public Health Conference: Lois Bower-Bjornson - What Its Like Living In Frackland - Residents Talk About Dealing With The Health, Environmental Impacts Of Shale Gas [PaEN]

-- Shale Gas & Public Health Conference: Bob Donnan - 15 Years Of Shale Gas Development Through Aerial Photos - Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]

-- Shale Gas & Public Health Conference: Gillian Graber, Protect PT -- We Need To Work Together, Pool Our Knowledge To Push Back Against This Industry That's Harming Our Communities [PaEN]

Resource Links - Health:

-- Frackland Video Tour, with Lois Bower-Bjornson, Clean Air Council

-- Part I - Environmental Impacts: State Dept. Of Health, Penn State Medical Webinars On Caring For Persons Living & Working In Communities With Oil & Natural Gas Extraction [PaEN]

-- Part II - Health Impacts: State Dept. Of Health, Penn State Medical Webinars On Caring For Persons Living & Working In Communities With Oil & Natural Gas Extraction [PaEN]

-- University Of Pittsburgh School Of Public Health Studies Find Shale Gas Wells Can Make Asthma Worse; Children Have An Increased Chance Of Developing Lymphoma Cancer; Slightly Lower Birth Weights [PaEN]

-- State Dept. Of Health Apologizes For Not Listening To Communities Suffering Health Impacts From Shale Gas Development; New Health Study Results ‘Just The Tip Of The Iceberg’ [PaEN]