To maximize benefits while minimizing complications, the use of casts and splints is generally limited to the short term. Excessive immobilization from continuous use of a cast or splint can lead to chronic pain, joint stiffness, muscle atrophy, or more severe complications (e.g., complex regional pain syndrome).
Energy Department: Fracking doesnât contaminate groundwater. In this March 29, 2013 photo, technicians inside a trailer direct the pressure and mix of water and chemicals pumped into an Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. well during hydraulic fracturing, outside Rifle, in western Colorado.
The process occurs at about 8,000 feet below ground. Environmentalists opposed to fracking claim that it can contaminate groundwater sources and releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but so far, these claims are largely unfounded.