How does gas flaring affect people

“Gas flaring puts a chemical called benzene into the air, which can expose people to health issues like headaches, tremors, and irregular heartbeats, along with cancer,” said Dr Shrey Srivastav, MD (Internal Medicine), Sharda Hospital.

According to Dr Srivastav, black carbon from gas flaring can cause breathing difficulties, respiratory disease, heart disease, and strokes.

Benzene has been shown to cause chromosome changes in bone marrow cells and cause cells not to work correctly. Flaring leads to bone marrow disorder and continued exposure leads to leukaemia and other kinds of cancer also.

Concurring that long-term exposure causes bone marrow damage, Dr Tirathram Kaushik, Consultant Oncosurgeon, Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road said that those who have been exposed feel progressively weak and fatigued as their red blood cell count drops.

However, Prof Dr Anita Ramesh, senior consultant – Medical Oncology, Apollo Spectra Hospital, Chennai said that “there is no direct impact on blood cancer (leukaemia)”.

While benzene, a known carcinogen, may increase the risk of lung and bladder cancer, there is no direct impact on blood cancer or leukaemia. However, more research is needed to fully understand the risks associated with flaring.

How does gas flaring affect people

“Gas flaring puts a chemical called benzene into the air, which can expose people to health issues like headaches, tremors, and irregular heartbeats, along with cancer,” said Dr Shrey Srivastav, MD (Internal Medicine), Sharda Hospital.

According to Dr Srivastav, black carbon from gas flaring can cause breathing difficulties, respiratory disease, heart disease, and strokes.

Benzene has been shown to cause chromosome changes in bone marrow cells and cause cells not to work correctly. Flaring leads to bone marrow disorder and continued exposure leads to leukaemia and other kinds of cancer also.

However, Prof Dr Anita Ramesh, senior consultant – Medical Oncology, Apollo Spectra Hospital, Chennai said that “there is no direct impact on blood cancer (leukaemia)”.

While benzene, a known carcinogen, may increase the risk of lung and bladder cancer, there is no direct impact on blood cancer or leukaemia. However, more research is needed to fully understand the risks associated with flaring.

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