Loving, New Mexico — New research is raising concerns about air quality and potential health risks in southeastern New Mexico, where residents live amid some of the nation’s most intensive oil and gas development.
A peer-reviewed study published in Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene analyzed 13 months of air monitoring in Loving and found airborne radioactivity reaching roughly three to five times background levels under certain wind conditions. Researchers said oil and gas operations—including flares, compressors and produced-water ponds—are likely contributors, although measurements from a single monitoring site could not identify individual sources.
The study estimated that average excess exposure, if representative of the broader region and sustained over time, could correspond to a small increase in lifetime lung cancer risk. Researchers stressed that more monitoring is needed before drawing broader population-level conclusions.
A separate, not-yet-peer-reviewed study using data from the same Loving monitoring station found elevated ozone pollution strongly associated with oil and gas activity. Ozone can irritate the lungs and worsen asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
The findings come as New Mexico expands environmental monitoring in the Permian Basin. The state has added sulfur dioxide monitors in Carlsbad and Hobbs and acquired a mobile radiation laboratory, while another mobile air-monitoring unit is expected to begin operating later this year.
Researchers and environmental groups say the new data strengthens the case for more extensive monitoring and closer examination of pollution from the region’s rapidly expanding energy industry.
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