CANSA’s focus on water baseline analysis in fracking process The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) announced a campaign to promote the professional analyses of drinking water in farms in the Karoo due to the risk of water and environmental contamination with carcinogens due to the fracking process. http://www.cansa.org.za/fracking/

2. CANSA AND FRACKING
What? Who? Why? Where?
Dr Carl Albrecht
CANSA Head of Research
21 January 2015
CANSA Science and Resource Centre, Mowbray

3. What is CANSA?

4. CANSA Cancer Research
• Focus on cancer prevention
• Foremost cancer research funder in SA
• 30 Projects at institutions
• 10 In-house projects
• R100 million + of own research funds from
public
• All data generated belongs 100% to CANSA
• No vested interests at all

5. What is the overlap?
Carcinogens

6. Heart of the fracking problem
Carcinogenic pollution of drinking water could
increase cancer rate in Karoo

7. Mutations cause cancer

8. 90% of cancers caused by
environmental carcinogens
• SMOKING 30%
• VIRUSES 20%
• CHEMICALS 15%
• OBESITY 15%
• ALCOHOL 5%
• SUNLIGHT 5%
• GENETICS 10%
TOTAL 100%

9. Key Questions
• Is fracking in the Karoo going to increase
the rate of cancers?
• What can CANSA do about this?

10. Carcinogens in fracking fluid
There is a long list but the two most well
known are:
• Benzene
• Formaldehyde
• Crystalline silica
• Cadmium
• Lead -210

11. Worst scenario
• Carcinogens in the Karoo spill into
drinking water aquifer due to casing leak

12. The late Professor Gerrit van Tonder, a leading
ground water expert and one of the most informed
academics on fracking, had the following to say before
his untimely death in 2014:
“There is no doubt that the fracking well
casings will fail, sooner or later. That is
why I say that contamination is
absolutely inevitable and it will be one
of the biggest water pollution disasters
in the world. South Africa is so short of
water. We cannot risk this.”
(Cape Times, April 28, 2014, Page 9)

13. CANSA Fracking link
• CANSA believes that 90% of all cancers
are due to carcinogens and lifestyle
choices
• CANSA endeavors to reduce the burden of
carcinogens thus reducing the burden of
cancer
• Fracking uses 700+ chemicals including
about 100 carcinogens and endocrine
disrupting compounds

14. What can CANSA do?
Lobby for:
1. Less use of carcinogens in fracking
2. Full disclosure of chemicals in fracking fluid
3. Underground drinking water analyses by
fracking company before, during and after
fracking.
4. Full disclosure of these data on Department
of Water affairs website; CANSA website

15. Is this not standard practice?
• Not in US where Energy Policy Act of 2005
excluded fracking from rules and regulations
of the EPA Safe Drinking Water Act.
• There is no reason except greed why similar
legislation should exist in South Africa.
• CANSA believes that transparency will lead to
better quality fracking which will lead to less
spills of carcinogens.

16. CANSA investigation of baseline
water quality determinations
• 4 March 2014
• 16 km from Cradock
• Farm of Mr Philip Antrobus
• Help from Jeanie Le Roux and Jonathan
Deal of TKAG
• Water samples collected for research
• Full report on www.cansa.org.za/fracking

17. Parameters of quality tested:
1. pH
2. Conductivity
3. Elemental composition –ICP-MS
4. Organics composition – LCMS, GCMS
5. Pesticides
Result:
• No unexpected compounds found –baseline
is flat.
• Exercise is highly do-able.

21. Example of data collected –LCMS
Blank
Time
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00 11.00 12.00 13.00 14.00 15.00 16.00 17.00 18.00 19.00 20.00 21.00 22.00 23.00
%
4
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00 11.00 12.00 13.00 14.00 15.00 16.00 17.00 18.00 19.00 20.00 21.00 22.00 23.00
%
5
CA_CANSA_140620_8 1: TOF MS ES+
BPI
1.36e3
0.29
159.9
1.06
174.0
1.13
174.0
2.63
159.9
1.17
174.0
2.60;187.0
4.95
187.0
4.22
187.03.06
187.0 3.50
159.9
20.40
459.8
7.26
159.9
5.97
187.04.96;159.9 6.71
159.9
18.13
459.8
10.15
187.09.37
159.9
9.10
187.0
8.65
187.07.81
459.8
15.26
186.2
12.93
459.8
10.84
187.0
12.56
459.811.60
187.0
13.45
459.8
14.37
459.813.89
177.1
15.03
186.2
17.73
459.816.54
459.815.76
187.0
18.91
441.8
19.13
441.8 19.87
441.8
21.78
441.8
20.96
187.0
22.22
459.8
22.79
441.8 23.09
459.8
CA_CANSA_140620_7 1: TOF MS ES+
BPI
2.29e3
6.61;340.3
6.58
340.3
0.95
174.0
0.43
159.9
2.92
227.2
2.84;227.2
1.02
174.0
1.95
159.91.26
159.9
2.79
159.9
2.97;227.2
6.52
340.3
3.01
227.2 4.16
159.9
3.70
158.0
5.86
459.8
5.28
441.8
5.05
459.8
6.67
340.3
22.93
192.1
10.96
158.0
7.53
187.07.05
187.0
10.40
459.8
8.73
158.0
8.41
187.0
9.46
187.0
22.76
459.815.57
441.8
15.13
459.8
12.21
187.0
11.55
459.8
12.61
158.0 13.36
177.1
14.19
158.0
21.61
459.8
19.96
459.8
16.39
158.0
18.09
459.8
17.44
459.8
16.77
459.8
18.34
459.8 19.28
459.8
20.90
247.2
20.22
459.8
22.09
441.8

22. Main issue linking CANSA to Fracking
ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY
Message to fracking companies
(Shell, Bundu and Falcon)
• Be open about what you are doing
• Collect excellent water quality data before,
during and after fracking
• Put this on various websites for all to see
• If you spill, accept your own data and pay
compensation
• Reduce use of carcinogens
• Reduce risk for cancer in the Karoo

23. South African Situation
• Act 28 of 2002 has been recalled
• Act calls for disclosure of chemicals
• Act calls for water quality testing paid for
by fracking companies
• Act does not address transparency of
this information
• Excellent opportunity to lobby further
• 18 recommendations to be submitted

24. Main Message to Government
“No secrets please!”
• Put fracking fluid chemical composition
on Internet for all to see.
• Put before, during and after water
quality data per fracking event on
Internet for all to see.

25. Fracking information on Internet

26. Transparency, in the used science,
engineering, business, the humanities and
in a social context more generally,
implies openness,
communication, and
accountability

27. Lowering risk is the cure of cancer.
Intellectuals solve
problems; geniuses
prevent them.
Albert Einstein

28. Take home message
• Link fracking information to the open Internet.
• Increase caution and decrease carcinogen pollution,
do not increase cancer risk.

29. www.cansa.org.za/fracking

31. The End
Thank You
www.cansa.org.za
Toll-free 0800 22 66 22
Whilst the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) has taken every precaution in compiling this presentation,
neither it, nor any contributor(s) to this presentation can be held responsible for any action (or the lack thereof) taken
by any person or organisation wherever they shall be based, as a result, direct or otherwise, of information contained
in, or accessed through, this presentation.