Factory Farms: Polluting Rural Communities, Part V |
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October 8, 2008
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The American Public Health Association has called for a moratorium on factory farms. |
Public Health at Risk
The wealth of information linking factory farms with illness led the world's largest association of public health professionals, the American Public Health Association, to evaluate the issue. In 2003, the organization issued a policy statement urging federal, state and local governments and public health agencies to impose a moratorium on the construction of new factory farms "until additional scientific data on the attendant risks to public health have been collected and uncertainties resolved."
Indeed, factory farm waste contains a number of byproducts of concern to human health, including heavy metals, pathogen bacteria and volatile gases. Numerous studies have found such respiratory problems among factory farm workers as chronic bronchitis, occupational asthma and Organic Dust Toxic Syndrome.
Those inside factory farms aren't the only ones at risk, however. Studies have found that children who attend schools near factory farms suffer elevated incidences of asthma symptoms.
Researchers have also documented the problems factory farms create for the health of those who live close to them, such as more frequent occurrences of "headache, runny nose, sore throat, excessive coughing, diarrhea and burning eyes," as well as respiratory problems, nausea, weakness and chest tightness.
With all these frightening facts at hand, what can an informed consumer do?
Related Links
Factory Farms: Polluting Rural Communities
Eating for Your Health
Factory Farming in America: The True Cost of Animal Agribusiness
The Impact of Industrialized Animal Agriculture on Rural Communities
The Impact of Industrialized Animal Agriculture on the Environment
