Shale gas and groundwater quality

In this report a literature review is presented on the environmental impacts of chemicals used in the fracturing process of shale gas extraction. The fracturing process and the chemicals that are used are briefly described. Two of these chemicals, polyacrylamide (a friction reducer) and glutaraldehyde (a biocide), are described more extensively with respect to their environmental properties such as aerobic and anaerobic bacterial, chemical or physical degradation.