Environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing in the United States tuberculosis, kidney disease, autoimmune disorders and airway disease such as asthma and bronchitis. Most of these debilitating and potentially fatal diseases are preventable with occupational control measures regarding respirable crystalline exposure. Hydraulic fracturing uses abundant amounts of sand in the process of fracturing as part of the hydraulic fluid. The fracturing fluid consists of a base fluid, proppant and chemical additives. The majority of proppant used in fracturing are made of silica (sand). Truck loads of sand are delivered to the sites, then loaded to sand movers that are then transferred to a blender that mixes the hydraulic fluid. The
Hydraulic fracturing formation. There are two methods of transporting proppant in the fluidhigh-rate and high-viscosity. High-viscosity fracturing tends to cause large dominant fractures, while high-rate (slickwater) fracturing causes small spread-out micro-fractures. Water-soluble gelling agents (such as guar gum) increase viscosity and efficiently deliver proppant into the formation. Fluid is typically a slurry of water, proppant, and chemical additives. Additionally, gels, foams, and compressed gases, including nitrogen, carbon dioxide and air can be injected. Typically, 90% of the fluid is water and 9.5% is sand with chemical additives accounting to about 0.5%. However, fracturing fluids have been developed using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)