An Oscar-nominated HBO documentary that showed American homeowners near hydraulic fracturing sites setting fire to their tap water may have been the main trigger for a surge in public opposition to the oil and gas production technique, according to a study to be published next month.

Gasland, produced by the film-maker Josh Fox in 2010, sparked a rise in online searches, social media chatter, news coverage, and environmental activism surrounding fracking that may have led to a series of local attempts to ban the industry in the years that followed, according to the paper which will be published in the American Sociology Review's October edition.

Fracking involves injecting sand, water and chemicals underground to crack open rock formations holding natural gas and oil – a technique that has led to a boom in US production and a slump in world energy prices.

Dozens of clashing studies have examined whether fracking contaminates water. The Environmental Protection Agency this year concluded a five-year study that said fracking does not pose widespread risk to groundwater but pointed out some cases of pollution.