Health Departments Hindered in Addressing Health Concerns from Animal Production Sites, Study Finds
Feb. 4, 2013 — State and local health departments face significant barriers and usually do not get involved when confronted with public health concerns resulting from food animal production sites, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The authors of the study, published in PLOS ONE, an open-access publisher of scientific research, examined the role of local and state health departments in responding to and preventing community-driven concerns associated with animal production sites. This study developed when it was brought to the attention of two of the authors that community members may assume that local health departments actively monitor and address potential concerns arising from large animal production sites. Prior experience of the authors indicated that this perception might be misinformed.
For the study, "Investigating the Role of State and Local Health Departments in Addressing Public Health Concerns Related to Industrial Food Animal Production Sites," researchers interviewed officials representing 13 county and eight state health departments and community leaders. Survey participants were selected in areas with high densities or rapid growth of large swine production sites. Researchers asked participants a serious of questions in an effort to find out what health and environmental concerns are reported to health departments, how the health departments respond, and to determine barriers that may prevent increased involvement.
Past studies have shown air near animal production sites to contain hydrogen sulfide, particulate matter, and allergens. Exposure to these emissions has been associated with multiple respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological health problems. Health department employees surveyed told investigators that, although some are often contacted by concerned community members living in close proximity to animal production sites, limited staff resources, lack of expertise or training, jurisdictional issues, and political pressures can hinder follow-up.
"Even though health departments are charged with monitoring and responding to the public health concerns of a community, most interviewed for the study said they had no involvement in decisions made about animal production sites," said Jillian Fry, PhD, lead author of the study. Primary regulatory authority over animal production sites, according to a report by the National Council of State Legislatures, frequently falls within the departments of the Environment or Natural Resources. "We believe formal involvement by state and local health departments may better protect the health of individuals in the community," said Fry.
Political and economic pressures were frequently cited as barriers to health departments becoming involved. Similarly, the researchers heard from participants that efforts to establish ordinances regulating animal production sites are often hindered by economic and political power held by agricultural corporations. As a result of the lack of health department involvement with concerns regarding animal production sites, community members surveyed noted they were, in essence, attempting to fill the role of health departments by performing environmental monitoring, and educating and informing the community. Community members said they often sought help and information from other government agencies, researchers, and other groups -- on a national or state level -- to answer questions about animal production health concerns.
Community members surveyed said engaging a health department about animal production concerns had never led to a resolution. "Health departments generally don't get involved," noted Fry. "When they do, our study found that usually no action is ultimately taken to correct a potentially serious threat to public health." Community leaders contacted in the study unanimously supported an expanded role for health departments to become involved in animal production, equal to that of other state and local agencies. Health departments could be involved with animal production sites through assessment, education, outreach, monitoring, and participating in permitting decisions.
"We believe it is critical for affected communities, health care providers, policymakers, and public health professionals to be aware of the limited engagement on this issue by health departments," said Fry. "Health departments could play a more significant role in addressing community members' health concerns if resources and the political landscape changed."
Fry and the study's coauthors believe health departments with animal production sites in their county or state should be provided with training, educational materials, and additional funding to increase their understanding of the human health concerns surrounding animal agriculture. "Even with these additional resources, or a change in jurisdictional authority, political barriers will likely continue to be a significant challenge to fully addressing animal production and public health."
Journal Reference:
Jillian P. Fry, Linnea I. Laestadius, Clare Grechis, Keeve E. Nachman, Roni A. Neff. Investigating the Role of State and Local Health Departments in Addressing Public Health Concerns Related to Industrial Food Animal Production Sites. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (1): e54720 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054720
How Industrialized Farming Could Facilitate Pandemic Swine Flu
By Robert S. Lawrence
With cases of H3N2v influenza on the rise, a look at where we stand and the key role of our system of food animal production in strengthening viruses.
(Stringer/Reuters)
The CDC has announced a sharp spike in cases of swine-origin influenza, sometimes known as "swine flu." At least 224 cases have occurred since mid-July, mostly in children living in Indiana and Ohio. This compares with just 12 cases reported nationally in all of 2011. The threat of pandemic influenza may not be imminent, but it is real.
One of the most common antibiotic-resistant pathogens is MRSA, which nowkills more Americansannually than AIDS….. MRSA has many variants, and one of the more benign forms now is widespread in hog barns and among people who deal with hogs. An article this year in a journal called Applied and Environmental Microbiology reported that MRSA was found in70 percent of hogson one farm.
By Nicholas D. Kristof - New York Times News Service “MRSA (pronounced "mersa") stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. People often get it from hospitals, but as I wrote in my last column [published in The N&O on March 13], a new strain called ST398 is emerging and seems to find a reservoir in modern hog farms. Research by Peter Davies of the University of Minnesota suggests that 25 percent to 39 percent of American hogs carry MRSA”“Public health experts worry that pigs could pass on the infection by direct contact with their handlers, through their wastes leaking into ground water (one study has already found antibiotic-resistant bacteria entering ground water from hog farms), or through their meat, though there has been no proven case of someone getting it from eating pork.”
“Yet the central problem here isn't pigs, it's humans. Unlike Europe and even South Korea, the United States still bows to agribusiness interests by permitting the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in animal feed. That's unconscionable”
".................MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), or drug-resistant staff infection. In 2005, U.S. hospitals treated more than 278,000 MRSA cases. Nearly 100,000 people faced life threatening illness and 18,650 died: 50 percent more than the number of AIDS death that year.
This evolving superbug sprang from the overuse of antibiotics -- not only in hospital settings, but also in animal agriculture, which consumes an estimated 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in this country. Most of those drugs are given at low dose to promote animal growth and prevent disease, a practice that encourages the emergence of multi-drug resistant bacteria.
Now MRSA is showing up in random samples of raw pork sold in supermarkets, and to a lesser extent in beef and chicken. Yet these potentially deadly cuts of meat -- unlike the salmonella-tainted eggs -- have never been yanked off the shelves.................."
"Although most people believe that cooking meat well eliminates any chance of infection, this is untrue for MRSA because it can cause skin infections, unlike E-coli or salmonella. A person can become colonized or infected simply by touching an object contaminated with MRSA. Touching your nose or having an abrasion on your hands while preparing raw pork could potentially lead to colonization or outright infection. Colonization means the bacterium is present, but not causing any problems. Colonization of the nose and skin greatly increases your risk of an actual MRSA infection. MRSA infections range from hard to heal boils to life threatening pneumonia, sepsis (bacteria in the blood) and joint infections."
Raleigh News and Observer Editorial January 3, 2010
"Drug Fiends
.........The animals are raised in conditions that make them susceptible to disease. Antibiotics in their feed ward off illness and also can make them grow faster.
Yet widespread use of the medicines has given rise to drug-resistant bacteria strains as the organisms adapt to their environment. Agricultural use accounts for 70 percent of the country's antibiotic consumption, and drug-resistant germs that have evolved in response to the prevalence of antibiotics in all settings were blamed in 2008 for 65,000 human deaths......."
Diseases fester on farms (Raleigh N&O article dated 12/29/09
"....Researchers say the overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals has led to a plague of drug-resistant infections that killed more than 65,000 people in the U.S. last year - more than prostate and breast cancer combined.
"This is a living breathing problem; it's the big bad wolf, and it's knocking at our door," said Dr. Vance Fowler, an infectious disease specialist at Duke University.
.......13 percent of the antibiotics administered on farms last year were fed to healthy animals to make them grow faster. Antibiotics also save as much as 30 percent in feed costs among young swine'
However, these animals can develop germs that are immune to the antibiotics. The germs then rub into scratches on farmworkers' arms, causing oozing infections. They blow into neighboring communities in dust clouds, run off into lakes and rivers during heavy rains, and are sliced into roasts, chops and hocks and sent to our dinner tables..." (emphasis added)
SCIENTIFIC REPORT OF EFSA Analysis of the baseline survey on the prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in holdings with breeding pigs, in the EU, 20081 Part A: MRSA prevalence estimates European Food Safety Authority2, 3 European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma, Italy SUMMARY Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been recognised as an important cause of hospital-associated infections in humans for several decades. MRSA is resistant to the most commonly used antibiotics. The MRSA lineage ST398 (MRSA ST398) has been recently described as a cause of infection for people occupationally exposed to pigs, by direct or indirect contact. MRSA ST398 can occasionally be introduced into hospitals as a result of community-acquired human infections. To assess the occurrence and the diversity of MRSA in pig primary production, a European Union-wide preliminary survey was carried out in parallel with a baseline survey on Salmonella spp. in holdings with breeding pigs to determine the prevalence of holdings positive for MRSA and MRSA ST398.
Sampling took place between January 2008 and December 2008. Five dust samples were taken in the immediate environment of breeding pigs in the holdings. The pooled sample of each holding was tested for the presence of MRSA and all isolates were sub-typed by spa-typing and where necessary by Multi-Locus Sequence Typing (MLST). On the basis of typing results, isolates were classified as either belonging to MRSA ST398 or to other sequence types. A total of 1,421 holdings housing and selling mainly breeding pigs (breeding holdings), and 3,176 holdings housing breeding pigs and selling mainly pigs for fattening or slaughter (production holdings) from 24 European Union Member States were included in the survey. Also, two countries not belonging to the European Union (non-Member States) participated in the survey. Seventeen Member States detected MRSA in their breeding or production holdings whereas seven Member States did not detect any MRSA in the surveyed holdings. MRSA was more often detected in production holdings than in breeding holdings.
The European Union prevalence of MRSA positive holdings with breeding pigs, as estimated based on the results from the 24 participating Member States, was 22.8%. MRSA ST398 was the predominant MRSA lineage identified in the holdings with breeding pigs in the European Union, counting for 92.5% of the MRSA isolates. The results were analysed separately for breeding holdings and production holdings, due to the expected differences in MRSA occurrence in those types of holdings. Twelve of the 24 Member States isolated MRSA in breeding holdings, which resulted in a European Union prevalence of breeding holdings positive for MRSA and for MRSA ST398 of 14.0% and 13.1%, respectively. Prevalence varied widely among the Member States, from 0% to 46.0%. One MemberState reported MRSA isolates not belonging to lineage ST398 (MRSA non-ST398). Neither of the two non-Member States found MRSA in their breeding holdings. Sixteen MemberStates and one non-MemberState detected MRSA in production holdings, while eight Member States did not. The European Union prevalence of MRSA and of MRSA ST398 positive production holdings was 26.9% and 25.5%, respectively. The prevalence of MRSA and of MRSA ST398 positive production holdings also varied widely among MSs, from 0% to 51.2% and from 0% to 50.2%, respectively. Only six MemberStates and one non-MemberState reported isolates of MRSA non-ST398, resulting in a low European Union prevalence of non-ST398 positive production holdings of 1.4% (range from 0% to 12.3%). The prevalence presented in the report are observed prevalence, meaning that the prevalence estimates do not account for potential imperfect test characteristics. The MRSA prevalence estimates from this preliminary survey may underestimate the true prevalence
Factory Farms: An Origin of Swine Flu and Other Diseases and Illnesses
May 9, 2009
Dead Hogs, Flies and Maggots at a Factory Farm
The Journal had previously reported on a study showing a significant increase in infant death rates (123 more deaths per 100,000 births) in U.S. counties with large factory farms—confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). (Obviously the death and illness rates are much higher downwind and close in to CAFOs). Much more has been dug up since then. (Googling “swine flu”cafos yields 28,000 articles)
It now appears that six of the eight genetic components in the currently circulating virus are direct descendants of a swine flu virus that first emerged in North Carolina a decade ago. That bug was discovered in August 1998, at a 2,400-head breeding facility in Newton Grove, NC, where all the sows suddenly came down with a phlegmatic cough. Pregnant animals spontaneously aborted their litters.
Below are startling published studies proving high levels of illnesses in children living near CAFOs.
Why has this direct correlation not been mentioned by government health authorities and the mainstream media? It seems they should make a big stink.
As usual the government/corporate partnership (in this case, public health authorities and the pharmaceutical/medical/health industry) want to vaccinate rather than address one of the real causes, in my opinion. There is simply far more money in it.
Before we expose the partial list of studies, here is something dealing with the origins of the Swine Flu. At the Mexican epicenter, a town where Smithfield Foods raise and slaughter a million hogs each year, 60% of the 3000 population became ill this year:
They reported, ‘Sources characterized the event as a ‘strange’ outbreak of acute respiratory infection, which led to bronchial pneumonia in some pediatric cases. According to a local resident, symptoms included fever, severe cough, and large amounts of phlegm. Health officials recorded 400 cases that sought medical treatment in the last week in La Gloria, which has a population of 3,000; officials indicated that 60% of the town’s population (approximately 1,800 cases) has been affected. No precise timeframe was provided, but sources reported that a local official had been seeking health assistance for the town since February.’ What they later say is ‘strange’ is not the form of the illness but the time of year as most flu cases occur in Mexico in the period October to February.
The report went on to note, ‘Residents claimed that three pediatric cases, all under two years of age, died from the outbreak. However, health officials stated that there was no direct link between the pediatric deaths and the outbreak; they stated the three fatal cases were “isolated” and “not related” to each other.’
Then, most revealingly, the aspect of the story which has been largely ignored by major media, they reported, ‘Residents believed the outbreak had been caused by contamination from pig breeding farms located in the area. They believed that the farms, operated by Granjas Carroll, polluted the atmosphere and local water bodies, which in turn led to the disease outbreak. According to residents, the company denied responsibility for the outbreak and attributed the cases to “flu.” However, a municipal health official stated that preliminary investigations indicated that the disease vector was a type of fly that reproduces in pig waste and that the outbreak was linked to the pig farms.
According to C. Larry Pope, CE) of Smithfield Foods who owns and operates the Mexican factory hog farm, “we routinely administer influenza virus vaccinations to their swine herds and conduct routine testing”. This sounds self-incriminating on two counts: the swine flu potential is there or they would not vaccinate. And two, the vaccinations alone can cause illness and morph into other types of viruses. Have they tested the dead hogs piled up, the flies around their carcasses, the manure ponds or the birds that hang around?
According to the studies below (The Journal credits IndianaCAFOWatch.com for the list), the health effects and potential for dangerous drug resistant organisms originating from factory farms:
Bacterial concentrations with multiple antibiotic resistances have been discovered upwind and downwind of swine facilities. Those working at the facility or who live in close proximity could be at risk for adverse health effects by exposure to large numbers of multidrug-resistant organisms. (Isolation of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria from the Air Plume Downwind of a Swine Confined Animal Feeding Operation. Shawn G. Gibbs et al., 1 University of Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health)
Public health scientists now recognize that hydrogen sulfide is a potent neurotoxin, and that chronic exposure to even low ambient levels causes irreversible damage to the brain and central nervous system. H2S are present in CAFO emissions. Children are among the most susceptible to this poison gas. (J Environ Sci Health B, 200003, 35: 2, 245-58)
Recent research conducted by investigators in the University of Iowa College of Public Health has found that the prevalence of asthma is elevated among children living on farms where swine are raised. (Univ. of Iowa 12/04 www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2004/december/120904asthma.html)
Recent research demonstrates that CAFOs can be sources of antibiotic resistant enteric bacteria that can lead to compromised environmental and potentially human health in ecosystems and populations adjacent to CAFOs. (http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/newscience/2007/2007-0513sapkotaetal.html Synopsis by Dr. Edward Orlando and Wendy Hessler)
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Near Schools May Pose Asthma Risk. Children who attend school near large-scale livestock farms known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) may be at a higher risk for asthma, according to recent study by University of Iowa researchers. The study, led by Joel Kline, M.D., professor of internal medicine in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, appears in the June issue of Chest, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (www.chestjournal.org).
The high prevalence of multiple resistance genes at a swine operation reported in a Johns Hopkins study suggests that airborne Gram-positive bacteria from swine operations may be important contributors to environmental reservoirs of resistance genes. Antibiotic resistance genes in multidrug-resistant Enterococcus spp. and Streptococcus spp. recovered from the indoor air of a large-scale swine-feeding operation.Sapkota AR, Ojo KK, Roberts MC, Schwab KJ. Department of Env.Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205-2103, USA.)
Research suggests exposure to odor has an effect on secretory immune function and is particularly important in that it documents a physiologic effect among neighbors of industrial hog operations. (Health Effects Associated with Exposure to Airborne Emissions from Industrial Hog Operations in Eastern North Carolina. Avery, R. Wing, S. et al Odor from Industrial Hog Operations and Mucosal immune function in Neighbors. Arch Eviron Health 59(2):101-108.)
Recent research was performed to investigate relationships between school exposures andrespiratory health of middle school–aged children. The findings identify a plausible association between exposure toairborne pollution from swine CAFOs and wheezing symptoms amongadolescents. (Asthma Symptoms Among Adolescents Who Attend Public Schools That Are Located Near Confined Swine Feeding Operations)Pediatrics Vol. 118 No. 1 July 2006, pp. e66-e75 (doi:10.1542/peds.2005-2812 Maria C. Mirabelli et al.)
What she saw there left her, in her own words, "sad, angry and shocked."
Rimer described the disturbing experience of witnessing modern industrial agriculture's "concentrated animal feeding operations" or CAFOs in a recent post to her "Monday Morning" blog, prefacing it with a warning that some of the text "is graphic and may be disturbing." She reported:
We flew over Duplin County. As far as the eye could see, there were hog lagoons and low slung buildings that house thousands of hogs and chickens. From the air, we could see how hog waste is sprayed onto fields, how the effluent runs into ditches that run into creeks that lead to rivers, including the Neuse, and pollutes all it touches. We saw how close the spray would come to neighboring houses and could imagine how the wind would blow that disgusting liquid onto yards and even into houses. It felt like we had traveled back in time to the 19th or early 20th century, before modern means of waste disposal were used. Think of CAFOs as factories, like what Upton Sinclair wrote about in The Jungle. These aren't the bucolic farms of yesterday. Animals are raised strictly as products, crammed together in inhumane conditions, raised only to be slaughtered. There's nothing noble about CAFOs.
Rimer's tour group also included Steve Wing, a UNC epidemiologist who studies hog farms' human health impacts; Jim Merchant, the former dean of the University of Iowa College of Public Health; and Rick Dove of the Waterkeeper Alliance. As Facing South reported recently, Merchant came to North Carolina earlier this month to address the state legislature on the health impacts of industrial hog farms only to have the hearing adjourned before he had a chance to speak.
After flying to Duplin County, Rimer's group was met by Devon Hall, co-founder of the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Health based in Warsaw, N.C. Hall took the group on a driving tour to show them how close the massive hog operations are to people's homes and drinking-water wells. Writes Rimer:
We stopped along the way to take pictures of the contents of a "dead box." A dead box is one of many dumping grounds for carcasses of dead animals. Earlier that day, I'd never even heard of a dead box, and now it is forever etched into my memory.
Rimer noted how important UNC's research is to understanding the impact industrial livestock farms have on human health -- and she vowed to figure out how her school can be most helpful.
In the meantime, environmental advocates are asking North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue (D) to convene a task force to examine the environmental, human health and economic impacts of industrial production of hogs and other livestock. They've launched an online petition to Perdue that they're asking supporters to sign; to read it and add your name, click here
Association of Local Health Directors Resolution.
In January, 2007, the below RESOLUTION was adopted by the NC Association of Local Health Directors. In February, 2007, a motion to rescind the Resolution was introduced and defeated. Further action on the Resolution awaits legislative consideration.
RESOLUTION NC Association of Local Health Directors on the Need to Address Waste from Swine Operations
JANUARY 25, 2007
WHEREAS open air lagoon and sprayfield systems used to handle waste from the ten million hogs produced in North Carolina continue to pollute North Carolina’s air and water;
WHEREAS odor from large hog operations represents a serious concern for local communities, contributing to serious respiratory ailments, skin and eye irritation, and increased stress levels for residents of downwind communities, and whereas cleaner hog waste systems can dramatically reduce odors;
WHEREAS ammonia emissions from large hog operations contribute to the formation of fine particle pollution, a public health threat that can lead to decreased lung function, cardiovascular conditions and most seriously, premature death, and present both local and regional health concerns, and whereas cleaner hog waste management systems can reduce ammonia emissions by 80%;
WHEREAS hog waste contains large quantities of disease-causing pathogens, and whereas it is important for public health to control exposure both in food and in waste treatment, and whereas cleaner hog waste management systems can reduce disease-causing pathogens by 99.99%;
WHEREAS a high prevalence of asthma has been documented among children living on hog farms, and whereas a 23% higher prevalence of asthma symptoms has been documented among students attending schools where hog odors are noticeable; WHEREAS the wells of residents living near large hog operations have been contaminated by pollution from lagoons and sprayfields; WHEREAS the standards for existing hog waste lagoon and sprayfield systems are inadequate to protect human health and the environment; WHEREAS as a result of the process established by the North Carolina Attorney General’s Agreements with Smithfield Foods, Premium Standard Farms, and Frontline Farmers to identify alternative waste technologies, quantified, specific environmental performance criteria have been developed that will substantially reduce odors, pathogens, and ammonia emissions from large hog operations; WHEREAS, in addition to the moratorium made effective in 1997, which has prevented the construction of new lagoons in the state, requirements for the construction of new hog operations and the expansion of existing operations have been identified, and whereas four alternative technologies meet the environmental performance criteria; WHEREAS at least nine technologies have been identified that are cleaner than lagoons and sprayfield systems, and whereas even more are under development and are likely to meet environmental standards; and WHEREAS hog farmers, environmentalists, and citizen groups are now working together to develop a process for putting alternative technologies on existing farms to improve their lives; and WHEREAS the North Carolina Association of Health Directors considers the hog industry to be an essential part of the State’s economy, BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors recommends that
A sufficient number of farms should be outfitted immediately with alternative technologies that meet environmental performance standards in order to make them affordable for all farmers;
The North Carolina General Assembly permanently prohibit the construction of any new lagoon and sprayfield systems for handling hog waste;
The North Carolina General Assembly adopt strong environmental performance standards for any future hog operations commenced in the State;
That an incentive program be established to assist hog farmers who volunteer to convert their lagoon and sprayfield systems to cleaner systems with a focus on the production of energy, compost, and other valuable products from hog waste to generate revenue to offset the cost of new technologies;
That a Community Relief Fund be established to assist citizens with well water testing to determine contamination, as well as assistance with remediation of contaminated wells; and
Enable farmers to participate in carbon trading markets to generate revenue to offset the costs of new technologies, thus taking advantage of emerging opportunities that will reward farmers for addressing global climate change
March 15, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist
Pathogens in Our Pork
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
We don’t add antibiotics to baby food and Cocoa Puffs so that children get fewer ear infections. That’s because we understand that the overuse of antibiotics is already creating “superbugs” resistant to medication.
Yet we continue to allow agribusiness companies to add antibiotics to animal feed so that piglets stay healthy and don’t get ear infections. Seventy percent of all antibiotics in the United States go to healthy livestock, according to a careful study by the Union of Concerned Scientists — and that’s one reason we’re seeing the rise of pathogens that defy antibiotics.
These dangerous pathogens are now even in our food supply.
For a detailed discussion of the health consequenses associated with the industrial production of livestock see the Pew Commission report at http://www.ncifap.org/_images/PCIFAPSmry.pdf
Livestock manure stinks for infant health Megafarm production associated with infant illness, death ratesBy Rachel EhrenbergWeb edition : Friday, January 16th, 2009 The manure generated by thousands of cows or pigs doesn’t just stink — it may seriously affect human health. New research examining two decades’ worth of livestock production data finds a positive relationship between increased production at industrial farms and infant death rates in the counties where the farms reside. The study reported in the February American Journal of Agricultural Economics implicates air pollution and suggests that Clean Air Act regulations need to be revamped to address livestock production of noxious gases.The new work is in line with several studies documenting the ill effects of megafarms, which typically have thousands of animals packed into small areas, comments Peter Thorne, director of the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Higher rates of lung disease have been found in workers at large poultry and swine operations and respiratory problems increase in communities when these large-scale farms move in, Thorne notes. “This study is a very important contribution,” says Thorne. “This is an industry we really need — it provides food and a lot of jobs — the answer isn’t for everyone to become vegetarians.” But, he says, “I think we need a fundamental change in the way this industry is going. There’s a very strong case that under the Clean Air Act the EPA should be looking seriously at the livestock industry.” The study, by economist Stacy Sneeringer of WellesleyCollege in Massachusetts, examined birth and death records from the NationalCenter for Health Statistics and the increase in “animal units” per county across the United States from 1982 to 1997. (Animal units are a normalizing unit used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One animal unit equals roughly 1,000 pounds of average live weight; or 250 layer chickens (for eggs); or 1.14 fattened cattle; or 2.67 breeding hogs.) An increase of 100,000 animal units in a county corresponded to 123 more infant deaths per year per 100,000 births. Doubling livestock numbers was linked to a 7.4 percent increase in infant mortality. Several potentially confounding variables were taken into account, such as per capita income, the availability of health care, climate, land and housing use, possible effects of other industries and whether large farms move to areas that already have poor infant health. “I was surprised to see this association — I kept expecting it to go away but it didn’t,” Sneeringer says. Farm pollution is typically associated with groundwater contamination. Leaks in manure lagoons or runoff from fertilizers or pesticides get into streams and other waterways. But increased livestock production had greater effects in areas with low well-water usage, implicating air pollution. Ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and airborne particulate matter are all associated with livestock production, Sneeringer says. Exposure to the gases has been linked to respiratory distress in infants, while exposure in the womb has been linked to disorders that occur late in pregnancy or shortly after birth, and has also been linked to spontaneous abortions. Sneeringer found that about 80 percent of the infant deaths associated with increased livestock production occurred in the first 28 days of life. “Livestock are the number one source of volatilized ammonia in the nation,” Sneeringer says.Increasingly, farms that generate manure don’t use it as fertilizer, Sneeringer points out. Many large livestock operations have no crops to fertilize. The manure may be shipped out to become pelleted fertilizer elsewhere, or sit in a big, sealed lagoon. Several steps might be taken to assuage the problem, says Thorne. Aerobic digesters can oxygenate manure as it breaks down, eliminating some of the noxious gases that anaerobic bacteria produce. Fertilizer could be injected into the ground instead of sprayed onto fields. And large livestock facilities could be required to buy additional surrounding land, increasing the distance between people and pollution. Full study can be found at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/120751033/PDFSTART?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
OUTRAGEOUS ~ CONDUCT
A recent documentary produced by the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network can be viewed by clicking the icon below. This video reveals the living conditions and health issues that exists in most places where citizens are forced to live in communities located near hog factories. When reviewing this video, keep in mind that in most instances, the citizens were living there BEFORE the hog industry set up in their communities.
Serious Health Consequences
RECENT STUDY OF DR. STEVE WING (July 2008)
Health Impacts Suffered by Neighbors of Swine Farms
Throughout eastern North Carolina, residents depend heavily on private wells to supply drinking water for their families. Due to widespread concerns voiced by these citizens that their wells might be contaminated with nitrates from animal waste, in his second term, Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., made free well water testing for nitrates available to all North Carolina citizens living adjacent to industrial swine facilities. During the next two years, a total of 1,595 wells in 57 counties which were adjacent to swine facilities had been tested for nitrates. The results were alarming. Of the tested wells, 163 (10.2 percent) showed nitrate contamination at or above the drinking water standard of 10 mg/L. In some counties, the percentage of contaminated wells was near 50%. Contaminated wells continue to be discovered and the North Carolina General Assembly has been pressed by local citizens to address the problem.
WHO SAYS SWINE FACTORIES ARE A HEALTH HAZARD?
Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. (NC Governor 1993-2001): Swine waste is a source of nitrates in groundwater and pathogens in ground and surface waters can directly impact public health. Odors can cause coughing, nausea, headaches, burning eyes and psychological effects. An NCSU study showed that waste from 38% of older, unlined anaerobic lagoons leaked nitrogen compounds into the groundwater at "strong" or "very strong" levels, while preliminary estimates of a Department of Environment and Natural Resource (DENR) study indicate that 25% of lined facilities may leak to contaminate groundwater. DENR data show that conventional sprayfields seem to be just as problematic as lagoons.
Governor Michael F. Easley:The current Governor of North Carolina has strongly condemned the use of swine lagoons and sprayfields for a myriad of reasons. His personal statement: "Lagoons and sprayfields are too risky--they must go."
Dr. Andrew D. McBride, MD, MPH (NC State Health Director 1998-2001): "The State Health Director is aware that people living near hog farms report more adverse health effects...........including cough, shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheezing, nausea, dizziness, headaches, runny noses, scratchy throat, burning eyes, muscle aches and pains, skin rash and fever...........the State Health Director considers exposure to hog odors as a public risk...."
The American Journal of Public Health: In dedicating its March 2007 issue to the noble and embattled residents of the e Duplin County (number 1 in world hog production) it stated: "...this largely improvised predominantly African-American region of eastern NC is inextricably linked to the environmental and occupational health hazards emanating from local industrial hog operations, lagoons and sprayfields....The residents of Duplin County are subjected to unrelenting exposure to rank odors and foul toxins from animal waste so that others may profit from exploitation of the land and water in their communities. It is difficult to imagine that the fight for social and environmental justice in Duplin County is an isolated event. Mary E. Northridge, PhD, Editor-in-Chief.
Catharine Fitzsimmons, Chief, Iowa Air Bureau: In a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works dated September 10,2007, this Iowa Official wrote: "....In 2006, Iowa conducted ambient emissions monitoring of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia outside 10 residents near animal feeding operations. The average maximum hourly ammonia value recorded at the 10 sites was 630ppb, or roughly 14 times higher than the maximum value recorded at a background monitoring site distant from animal feeding operations. As I indicated in my testimony, livestock ammonia emissions play a significant role in the formation of fine particles like ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate that cause health effects and reduce visibility across the Midwest and Great Plains.........."
Scientists Verifying Serious Health Consequences: For information on these pollutants and the human health impacts identified above see the following: Iowa State University and The University of Iowa Study Group, Iowa Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, Air Quality Study, Final Report (2002) (?Iowa Air Quality Study?), http://www.public health.uiowa.edu/ehsrc/CAFOstudy.htm;Minnesota Planning Agency Environmental Quality Board, Final Animal Agriculture Generic Environmental Impact Statement (2002), (?Minnesota EIS for Animal Agriculture?), http://www.eqb.state.mn.us/geis/ for information concerning health impacts of particular AFO air pollutants; North Carolina Residents, 108 Envtl. Health Persp. 223-38 (2000); S. Wing & S. Wolf, Intensive Livestock Operations, Health, and Quality of Life Among Eastern K. Thu et al., A Control Study of the Physical and Mental Health of Residents Living Near a Large-Scale Swine Operation, 3 J. Agric. Safety & Health 1, 13-26 (1997)
