Researchers shed light on sulfolane pollution in the Prairies

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This article was published 18/04/2024 (906 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the Prairies, where oil and gas sites sprinkle much of land, researchers are calling attention to a little-known chemical pollutant the fossil fuel industry has for decades released into the natural environment. Sulfolane was long thought to be harmless but now there is growing evidence of its toxicity, and emerging calls to clean it up.

Sulfolane was first used in the 1940s by Shell, and has since been broadly adopted by the industry. In Alberta, it is used heavily to “sweeten” sour gas (which makes up a third of natural gas in the province) by removing acidic components from it, explains researcher Erica Pensini, an associate professor of engineering at the University of Guelph. There is little data on the impact of the chemical on humans, but it has been shown to affect fertility in cattle, and Health Canada notes that “overall, oral exposure to sulfolane in experimental animals was associated with immunological, renal and reproductive and developmental effects.”

To read more of this story first reported by Canada’s National Observer, click here.

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