Respiratory Problems

Animal waste emits ammonia, hydrogen sulfite, methane, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter from fecal dust. These irritants enter the lungs of anyone who is nearby and can cause serious respiratory illnesses. A February 2002 study conducted by Iowa State University and the University of Iowa Study Group found that as many as 70 percent of U.S. factory farm workers suffer from acute bronchitis, and 25 percent battle chronic bronchitis.²⁶ Even more disturbing, a recent University of Iowa study found that an astonishing 46 percent of children who live on pig factory farms with more than 500 pigs suffer from asthma. On factory farms where antibiotics are used as a growth stimulant, the asthma rate in children climbs to over 55 percent.²⁷

Furthermore, a Texas study found that cattle feedlots in the state produced 14 million pounds of particulate dust every year and that the dust “contains biologically active organisms such as bacteria, mold, and fungi from the feces and feed.”²⁸ This dirty dust creates an increased risk of respiratory problems for people who work at and live near these farms.

The air just outside Los Angeles is particularly dirty because the ammonia from nearby manure pits combines with nitrogen oxide to form “particulate smog”—a substance that contributes to the development of lung and heart disease.²⁹ In fact, the area has some of the worst air pollution in the country. Amazingly, the South Coast Air Quality Management District says that reducing the ammonia pollution produced on dairy farms is more important than reducing the pollution generated by the automobile industry.

Ammonia is not the only problem, however. According to a report issued by the California Senate, a significant portion of methane and other greenhouse gas emissions are also produced by animals on factory farms.³⁰ Since the 1970s, 24 people in the Midwest have died after inhaling methane and hydrogen sulfide fumes. This includes an entire Michigan family who “collapsed one by one” after simply inhaling fumes from the manure pit on their farm.³¹ The dangers of these toxic gases are not limited to farming communities, however; they pose a threat to everyone because they accumulate in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.

Read more about bacterial infections.