Cross-Index of Products and Chemicals Used by New York’s Natural Gas Industry Dr. Ronald E. Bishop Sustainable Otsego Cooperstown, NY
My work-in-progress, “Beyond MSDS: A Review of Hazardous Materials Used by
New York’s Natural Gas Industry” began with 48 products disclosed by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in response to a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)
request by The Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes. However, that list was not merely incomplete, it represented less than a third of all the products subsequently disclosed in
the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Regulation of the Natural Gas Industry (dSGEIS). Rather than wait until my investigation of the human and
environmental toxicity of all these “new” products is complete, I’m releasing intermediate results of the project: a cross-index of what chemicals are found in which products.
A few words of explanation are in order. Where possible, I have used a unified set of
chemical names rather than the multiple, often obtuse terms found in the MSDS documents provided to me by the DEC in response to my FOIL request based on the dSGEIS. Such
name substitution was directed in every case by the Chemical Abstracts System (CAS) number where available, or by reference to an authoritative chemical index (usually The
For many products, the chemicals present were not disclosed, nor even hinted at.
Reference in this cross-index to “proprietary component” was either taken directly from
the MSDS document or inferred from chemical and physical properties reported for the product which were inconsistent with the listed chemicals.
I remain dissatisfied with the level of chemicals disclosure that is apparently
accepted by New York’s DEC. I am appalled by their lack of oversight of this aspect of natural gas exploitation, in tacitly approving for use any and all requested products
regardless of their impacts on human health or ecological systems.
This article, related MSDS documents, and other material are available online at:
Gas Industry Cross-Index of Products and Chemicals Product Name Chemical Composition
dodecylbenzenesulfonate isopropanolamine
propargyl alcohol glycol ethers (including 2-butoxyethanol)
Product Name Chemical Composition
tributyl tetradecylbutylphosphonium chloride
Product Name Chemical Composition
2,2-dibromo-3-nitrilopropionamide ethylene glycol
isopropanol 3 proprietary linear glycol ethers
Product Name Chemical Composition
water-soluble anionic polymer in emulsion
water-soluble anionic polymer in emulsion
proprietary aliphatic alcohol glycol ether
urea poly [2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate]
polymeric “hydrocarbon” mixture; includes sulfonates
enzyme; possible allergic sensitizer sodium chloride
petroleum distillate blend polysaccharide blend
Product Name Chemical Composition
ethylene glycol combustible proprietary chemical
proprietary white solid; probable chelator
hydrotreated heavy naphtha polysaccharide
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ethanol
Product Name Chemical Composition
proprietary aliphatic alcohol glycol ether
glycol ethers (including 2-butoxyethanol)
heavy aromatic petroleum naphtha naphthalene
Product Name Chemical Composition
isopropanol (oxydiethyleneglycol) bis(coco alkyl)
hydrochloric acid organic (probably citric) acid
Product Name Chemical Composition
glycol ethers (including 2-butoxyethanol)
methanol C10 – C-16 ethoxylated alcohol
proprietary aromatic ammonium salt heavy aromatic petroleum naphtha
light aromatic solvent naphtha 2-substituted aromatic amine salt
1,2,4-trimethylbenzene 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene
proprietary anionic water-soluble polymer deodorized kerosene
diethylene triamine penta(methylenephosphonate)
Product Name Chemical Composition
methanol proprietary fatty acid / polyamine salt
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