Hydrogen sulfide concentrations at three middle schools near industrial livestock facilities

Abstract

Safe school environments are essential for healthy development, yet some schools are near large-scale livestock facilities that emit air pollution. Hydrogen sulfide (HS) from decomposing manure is an indicator of livestock-related air pollution. We measured outdoor concentrations of HS at three public middle schools near livestock facilities in North Carolina. We used circular graphs to relate HS detection and wind direction to geospatial distributions of nearby livestock barns. We also used logistic and linear regression to model HS in relation to upwind, distance-weighted livestock barn area. Circular graphs suggested an association between upwind livestock barns and HS detection. The log-odds of HS detection per 1000 m increased with upwind weighted swine barn area (School A: β-coefficient (β)=0.43, SE=0.06; School B: β=0.64, SE=0.24) and upwind weighted poultry barn area (School A: β=0.05, SE=0.01), with stronger associations during periods of atmospheric stability than atmospheric instability (School A stable: β=0.69, SE=0.11; School A unstable: β=0.32, SE=0.09). HS concentration also increased linearly with upwind swine barn area, with greater increases during stable atmospheric conditions (stable: β=0.16 parts per billion (p.p.b.), SE=0.01; unstable: β=0.05 p.p.b., SE=0.01). Off-site migration of pollutants from industrial livestock operations can decrease air quality at nearby schools.

Toxic Truths: Environmental Justice and Citizen Science in a Post-Truth Age

“…Additional studies that were inspired by Steve Wing's work on North Carolina IHOs have investigated (1) environmental racism in the Mississippi hog industry (Wilson et al 2002), (2) hydrogen sulfide exposure in children attending school near NC IHOs (Guidry et al 2016), and (3) presence of fecal indicator bacteria and pig-specific microbial fecal markers downstream proximal to IHOs (Heaney et al 2015). For more information, the North Carolina Medical Journal provides a comprehensive summary of the pollutants and health impacts that are associated with IHOs, as documented by Wing and community partners, his mentees, and other researchers from North Carolina and beyond (Guidry et al 2018).…”

Bearing the Brunt: Who Breathes the Air Pollutants from Hog CAFOs in North Carolina?

“… 1 , 2 Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and their open waste storage pits emit two chemicals of particular concern to human health: ammonia ( ) and hydrogen sulfide ( ). 3 , 4 Some previous studies of the region’s hog CAFOs focused on environmental injustice, 5 , 6 noting that such facilities were disproportionately located near low-income communities of color. Going beyond these proximity-based analyses, a new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives 7 applied a dispersion model for transport of and over space and time to estimate human exposure.…”