With coal seam gas projects popping up along the North West Queensland corridor, the news may have ramifications for the region's graziers, with Australian environmentalists saying the study shows the need for a slow down of exploration and extraction of the gas.

University of Massachusetts researchers interviewed 24 US farmers affected by shale gas drilling and found the practice was "strongly implicated" in serious health problems in humans and animals.

In one case, 17 beasts died in one hour from respiratory failure after shale gas fracking fluids were accidentally released into an adjacent paddock.

Most health problems were linked to unconventional wells that have become widespread in the US shale gas industry and often require hydraulic fracturing to release gas.

Extracting gas from shale is similar, though not identical, to coal seam gas production.

On another farm, 70 of 140 cattle exposed to wastewater from fracking died, as did a number of cats and dogs from a neighbourhood where wastewater was spread on roads as a method of disposal.

The study also cites a case in which a child was hospitalised with arsenic poisoning soon after drilling and fracking began near their home.

Occupants of another home near gas wells suffered headaches, nosebleeds and rashes, and their hearing and sense of smell was affected.

Coal seam gas company WestSide intends to extract the product from properties on the Galilee Basin in North West Queensland.