Livestock pollution and public health
- California officials identify agriculture, including cows, as the
major source of nitrate pollution in more than 100,000 square miles of
polluted groundwater.
- In 1996 the Centers for Disease
Control established a link between spontaneous abortions and high
nitrate levels in Indiana drinking water wells located close to
feedlots.
- High levels of nitrates in drinking water
also increase the risk of methemoglobinemia, or "blue-baby syndrome,"
which can kill infants.
- Animal waste contains disease-causing pathogens, such as Salmonella, E. coli, Cryptosporidium,
and fecal coliform, which can be 10 to 100 times more concentrated than
in human waste. More than 40 diseases can be transferred to humans
through manure.
- Manure from dairy cows is thought to have contributed to the disastrous Cryptosporidium
contamination of Milwaukee's drinking water in 1993, which killed more
than 100 people, made 400,000 sick and resulted in $37 million in lost
wages and productivity.
- In this country, roughly 29
million pounds of antibiotics -- about 80 percent of the nation's
antibiotics use in total -- are added to animal feed every year, mainly
to speed livestock growth. This widespread use of antibiotics on animals
contributes to the rise of resistant bacteria, making it harder to
treat human illnesses.
- Large hog farms emit hydrogen sulfide, a gas that most often causes flu-like symptoms in humans, but at high concentrations can lead to brain damage. In 1998, the National Institute of Health reported that 19 people died as a result of hydrogen sulfide emissions from manure pits.
Livestock pollution and water pollution
- Huge open-air waste lagoons, often as big as several football
fields, are prone to leaks and spills. In 1995 an eight-acre hog-waste
lagoon in North Carolina burst, spilling 25 million gallons of manure
into the New River. The spill killed about 10 million fish and closed
364,000 acres of coastal wetlands to shellfishing.
- In 2011, an Illinois hog farm spilled 200,000 gallons of manure into a creek, killing over 110,000 fish.
- In 2012, a California dairy left over 50 manure covered cow carcasses rotting around its property and polluting nearby waters.
- When
Hurricane Floyd hit North Carolina in 1999, at least five manure
lagoons burst and approximately 47 lagoons were completely flooded.
- Runoff
of chicken and hog waste from factory farms in Maryland and North
Carolina is believed to have contributed to outbreaks of Pfiesteria piscicida, killing millions of fish and causing skin irritation, short-term memory loss and other cognitive problems in local people.
- Nutrients
in animal waste cause algal blooms, which use up oxygen in the water,
contributing to a "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico where there's not
enough oxygen to support aquatic life. The dead zone fluctuates in size
each year, extending a record 8,500 square miles during the summer of
2002 and stretching over 7,700 square miles during the summer of 2010.
- Ammonia, a toxic form of nitrogen released in gas form during waste disposal, can be carried more than 300 miles through the air before being dumped back onto the ground or into the water, where it causes algal blooms and fish kills.
The growth of factory farms
- From 1980 to 2011, the
number of hog operations in the U.S. dropped from 666,000 to roughly
69,000, yet the number of hogs sold remains almost the same.
- About 70% of U.S. beef cattle come from farms with at least 5,000 head of cattle.
- Ten large companies produce more than 90 percent of the nation's poultry.
Source: NRDC.org