This report reviews the epidemiology research that assesses whether exposure to unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD) might lead to adverse health effects.

Unconventional oil and natural gas development is a driving force behind significant economic and energy policy shifts in the United States and the world today. Technological advances in development are substantially increasing energy supplies, while at the same time outpacing the scientific research that can answer questions about the development’s potential effects.

Communication 1 surveys the literature about environmental exposures associated with unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD). The Energy Research Committee conducted the survey as part of a larger effort to understand the current state of the science on UOGD exposures and their potential health effects.

This Research Brief summarizes a scoping review of the peer-reviewed and gray literature that assesses or describes what is known about the cumulative impacts of chemical and nonchemical factors of unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD) and methods for assessing cumulative impacts experienced by UOGD communities.

This Research Brief summarizes literature about the potential for communities to be exposed to produced water from oil and natural gas development. These exposures might arise from permitted, accidental, or unauthorized releases of produced water within or outside of the oil field. This Brief will help to inform HEI Energy’s strategic research planning for 2025–2030. It is part of a series of Research Briefs summarizing literature about potential exposures and health effects associated with unconventional oil and gas development.

This Research Brief summarizes literature about the potential for releases to the environment and human exposures associated with abandoned and orphaned wells in the United States. Conventional oil and gas wells currently dominate the U.S. inventory of inactive wells and are the primary subject of the literature reviewed here, although more UOGD wells will become inactive over time. It is part of a series of Research Briefs summarizing literature about potential exposures and health effects associated with UOGD.

This Research Brief summarizes literature characterizing emissions from natural gas flaring, quantifying human exposures to flaring, and assessing potential inequalities in exposure to flaring. It is part of a series of Research Briefs summarizing literature about potential exposures and health effects associated with UOGD.

This Research Brief describes the FracFocus database, a public national registry for reporting the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluid. The Brief summarizes published reviews of the database, supplements these reviews with an updated description of data posted to FracFocus, and offers ideas for how the FracFocus database might be useful for research about potential human exposures associated with UOGD. It is part of a series of Research Briefs summarizing literature about potential exposures and health effects associated with UOGD.

This Research Brief provides a summary of the UOGD epidemiology studies published since the HEI Energy Research Committee conducted its systematic review of this literature. It provides information on study methods and the exposures, health outcomes, and regions that have been studied. This document is not a systematic review of the literature; instead, it provides a general update on the UOGD analytical epidemiology literature. It is part of a series of Research Briefs summarizing literature about potential exposures and health effects associated with UOGD.

Ariana A, Cozzarelli I, Danforth C, McDevitt B, Rosofsky A, Vorhees D. Pathways for Potential Exposure to Onshore Oil and Gas Wastewater: What We Need to Know to Protect Human Health. Geohealth. 2025 Apr 3;9(4):e2024GH001263. doi: 10.1029/2024GH001263. PMID: 40182626; PMCID: PMC11966568.