Fracking-fluid study results from University of Colorado researchers published this week showed that at least a portion of the chemicals used in oil and gas production is no different than ingredients found in common household products.
But the real value of the study may lie in future pinpointing of water contamination.
Michael Thurman, lead author of , said the data gleaned from two years of identifying 500 compounds found in fracking fluid samples create a “fingerprint” that enables researchers to link suspected contamination in water wells to specific drilling sites. Some private landowners in drilling areas have blamed fracking for spoiling their drinking water.
“We could use these compounds we have been measuring to trace the flow of water from flowbacks. We could fingerprint the water,” he said.
Flowback is the end phase of fracking, when enough fluid has been injected under high pressure into cracks in underground shale. The fluids then back up to the surface.
For the study, Thurman and his colleagues tested eight samples of flowback fluids that came from five states, including Colorado. They tested only the surfactants — the chemicals that are added to reduce surface tension between oil and water so that more oil will be released from porous rock.
Using CU’s mass spectrometry equipment, they found the chemicals used in the surfactants are the same as those used commonly in laxatives, toothpaste, detergent and cosmetics. They did not find the toxic chemicals known as that can have adverse effects on reproductive, neurological and immune systems.
The samples were provided by fracking companies, the Environmental Protection Agency and from a company that treats the contaminated water produced by fracking. The funding came from the National Science Foundation and from the oil field services company Halliburton. Thurman said the Halliburton money came indirectly to the project via Colorado State University.
The Colorado Oil & Gas Association welcomed the results of the study that were published this week in the journal “Analytical Chemistry.”
“For Colorado families, this should again give comfort that oil and gas development is being conducted responsibly,” said association spokesman Doug Flanders, who also pointed out that the once-secretive fracking-fluid ingredients are now published on-line at .
Thurman said he also has received criticism for the study that created widespread headlines trumpeting the safety of fracking fluids. He said the study did not delve into toxicity of fluids. It only identified compounds found in the fluids, and only in the surfactants that make up 20 percent of the fracking chemicals.
Thurman said the study is limited by its small size. Only eight samples were included, and only surfactants were studied because those are the only compounds the mass spectrometry equipment at CU allows researchers to examine.
Since the study was completed six months ago, another eight samples have been examined with similar results.
Thurman said other CU studies of surfactants are ongoing. One is looking at how to remove surfactants from production water, and another is looking at how surfactants could be lubricating earthquake faults and contributing to increased earthquake activity.
Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957, nlofholm@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nlofholm
