A curated geospatial dataset of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing and their functions

Produced water (PW) is generated by the oil and gas industry as a byproduct of conventional extraction and hydraulic fracturing (HF) activities. Chemicals used in HF must be evaluated for risk to humans and ecological species when considering the conditions of PW reuse. FracFocus (FF) is a public database of chemicals used in HF where operators of wells report information either voluntarily or as mandated under specific state statutes. However, data reported to FF is standardized in terms of neither chemical identifier nor chemical function. Here, using cheminformatic methods, we develop a curated database of chemicals reported to FF, harmonized to chemical identifiers and function categories used by the US Environmental Protection Agency, facilitating linkage to toxicity and other data in its CompTox Chemicals Dashboard. The resulting dataset of over 5.7 million records reflects 1567 unique chemical substances and 45 unique functions. This dataset provides a resource to risk assessors and environmental programs when evaluating the potential impact of HF chemicals in PW reuse.