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Higher Infant Mortality, Kidney Disease and TB Linked to Living Near Factory Farms
Posted on May 18, 2023
Concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs — gigantic factory farms that hold many thousands of animals in a warehouse-style setting — pose a wide range of threats to human health and the environment.
Story at a glance:
Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) — gigantic factory farms that hold many thousands of animals in a warehouse-style setting — are an environmental disaster in more ways than one, and when hurricanes hit, this fact becomes acutely obvious when animal waste, collected in massive “lagoons,” overflow, contaminating both land, water and residential homes.
Even under the best circumstances, the lagoons may leak, seeping millions of gallons of waste a year into neighboring soil and groundwater. Add in a formidable force like a hurricane and the potential for leakage, overflow and runoff is virtually guaranteed.
Environmental contamination from overflowing animal waste is bad enough in and of itself, but CAFO waste is made all the worse by the fact that these animals are routinely fed antibiotics, which promotes antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
These drug-resistant pathogens are then spread through the environment in a variety of ways. Storms drive contaminated water across large areas, wind spread airborne pathogens, and other foods are contaminated by using the waste as fertilizer.
Hog waste poses risks to public health
Vice News highlighted some of the problems associated with North Carolina’s CAFO hog waste in a recent article, noting:
“The waste-filled lagoons have created a constant source of environmental pollution during hurricanes, which frequent North Carolina’s coast.
“Lagoons overflowed or breached in 1996 during Hurricane Fran, in 1998 during Hurricane Bonnie, in 1999 during Hurricane Floyd, in 2016 during Hurricane Matthew, and just last month during Hurricane Florence — 33 overflowed.”
Hurricanes, which hit North Carolina with regularity, clearly compound the environmental problems associated with hog CAFOs, but it’s an inescapable issue for residents year-round.
When the lagoons are emptied by spraying the liquid waste onto fields, nearby residents are quite literally showered with liquefied feces, and several studies have noted the health dangers of living near these CAFOs.
A North Carolina swine farm nuisance lawsuit even presents evidence of hog DNA collected from the walls in residential homes.
Many find the stench unbearable and the air hard to breathe.
Most recently, a study published in the North Carolina Medical Journal found communities near hog CAFOs have higher mortality rates from anemia, kidney disease, TB and septicemia, as well as higher infant mortality.
[…]
Antibiotic-resistant pathogens are a CAFO scourge
American livestock farmers use nearly 30 million pounds of antibiotics each year in the raising of their animals.
Most of these are raised in CAFOs, where overcrowding, lack of sanitation, stress and an unnatural diet make the animals prone to illness. Antibiotics are routinely added to their feed to combat disease.
Antibiotics also have the side effect of promoting growth, making the animals grow fatter faster, which is another reason for the drugs’ use.
This agricultural use accounts for about 80% of all antibiotics used in the U.S., making it a significant source of continuous low-dose exposure via your diet.
However, while low-dose antibiotic exposure is a health risk, a far more significant concern is the antibiotic-resistant bacteria CAFO meats may harbor. As revealed by a recent analysis of food testing done by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015, 83% of meats sold in U.S. supermarkets are contaminated with enterococcus faecalis, i.e., fecal bacteria.
A high percentage are also contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria:
Drug-resistant bacteria from feedlots go airborne
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are not just in the meat, however.
Researchers have found that drug-resistant pathogens can also spread from CAFO feedlots into the environment via the air, spreading far and wide by the wind.
Between August and December 2012, Phil Smith, an associate professor of terrestrial ecotoxicology at Texas Tech and his colleague, Greg Mayer, an associate professor of molecular toxicology, collected air samples from 10 commercial cattle yards within a 200-mile radius of Lubbock, Texas.
[…]
The pair explain that the drug-resistant genes are contained in the fecal matter. When it dries, it allows the genes to spread by winds over great distances.
The study estimates that the amount of potentially contaminated dust particles released by cattle yards in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas exceeds 46,000 pounds (21,000 kg) per day.
So not only can you be exposed to antibiotic-resistant bacteria via water and contaminated meat, depending on where you live, but simply breathing could be a route of exposure as well.
Smith also notes that microbes are “promiscuous with their genetic information,” and can share their genetic information across species. What this means is that microbes that have not been directly exposed to antibiotics may still develop resistance, simply by coming into contact with drug-resistant bacteria.
The fact that this mingling may occur just about anywhere — even out in nature — is troubling, as it implies there’s virtually no way to stop the progression of resistance. It simply cannot be confined.
Cattle industry tries to kill the story
As reported by Texas Monthly, the findings caused quite the headache for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
Its president and CEO, Ross Wilson, said the idea that antibiotic-resistant bacteria were airborne was “a big accusation” based on “a superficial, initial set of science.”
“They found genetic material. That does not mean that there’s any organism that is out there that is going to transfer that potential resistance,” Wilson said. “And if people expect us to sit idly by and not defend our members when some are alleging this is our fault, it’s not happening.”
Mayer and Smith agree there are unanswered questions, such as “What is the consequence of the bacteria’s gene sequence when it lands?” and “Can it cause an infection in humans?”
Texas Monthly continues:
“If the bacteria are dead, though, then what Smith and Mayer found was naked DNA, which is released by bacteria after their cell walls have decomposed. When these pieces of DNA fall out of the wind, they can be picked up by bacteria on the ground, in a process known as transformation.
“If live bacteria downwind of the feed yard absorbed the DNA found in Smith and Mayer’s samples, they could acquire antibiotic resistance, though the process is much less efficient than conjugation.
“Smith and Mayer don’t know if the bacteria they detected downwind of the feedlots were dead or alive.
“Nor do they know at what concentrations the bacteria might be found as they move farther away from the feedlots. But they had demonstrated that antibiotic resistance could be spread on the wind.”
Disturbed by comments made by Smith and Mayer during the media storm that followed the publication of their findings, Wilson called the duo for a meeting, in which he asked them to dial back the media attention.
According to Texas Monthly:
“The incident upset Smith and Mayer, who have both grown weary of the controversy their research has sparked.
“‘This is like nothing I have ever experienced in science before. And it’s not that we haven’t done cooler things, better things, more technical things,’ said Mayer.
“‘It’s just that there isn’t a big industry that cares about it.’
“Smith put it another way. ‘They would like nothing more than for us to zip our mouths, put our instruments away, and never do another study,’ he said … ‘I just don’t like to be bullied.’”
[…]
Via https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/infant-mortality-kidney-disease-cafo-factory-farms-cola/
THANKS TO: https://stuartbramhall.wordpress.com/2023/05/18/higher-infant-mortality-kidney-disease-and-tb-linked-to-living-near-factory-farms/
Posted on May 18, 2023
Image credit: mercola.com
By Dr. Joseph Mercola Concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs — gigantic factory farms that hold many thousands of animals in a warehouse-style setting — pose a wide range of threats to human health and the environment.
Story at a glance:
- Communities near hog-concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) have higher mortality rates from anemia, kidney disease, tuberculosis (TB) and septicemia, as well as higher infant mortality, likely due to exposure to hog waste.
- CAFO animal waste is made all the worse by the fact that these animals are routinely fed antibiotics, which promotes drug-resistant bacteria.
- Drug-resistant pathogens are not only found on meat, they can also spread from CAFO feedlots into the environment via the air, spreading far and wide by wind.
- Manure from industrial agriculture is the primary source of nitrogen and phosphorus in waterways. Resulting damage includes algae overgrowth that depletes the water of oxygen, killing fish and other marine life.
- Slaughterhouses are another source of nitrogen pollution, and three-quarters of U.S. meat processing plants that discharge wastewater into local waterways have violated the pollution limits of their federal Clean Water Act permits.
Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) — gigantic factory farms that hold many thousands of animals in a warehouse-style setting — are an environmental disaster in more ways than one, and when hurricanes hit, this fact becomes acutely obvious when animal waste, collected in massive “lagoons,” overflow, contaminating both land, water and residential homes.
Even under the best circumstances, the lagoons may leak, seeping millions of gallons of waste a year into neighboring soil and groundwater. Add in a formidable force like a hurricane and the potential for leakage, overflow and runoff is virtually guaranteed.
Environmental contamination from overflowing animal waste is bad enough in and of itself, but CAFO waste is made all the worse by the fact that these animals are routinely fed antibiotics, which promotes antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
These drug-resistant pathogens are then spread through the environment in a variety of ways. Storms drive contaminated water across large areas, wind spread airborne pathogens, and other foods are contaminated by using the waste as fertilizer.
Hog waste poses risks to public health
Vice News highlighted some of the problems associated with North Carolina’s CAFO hog waste in a recent article, noting:
“The waste-filled lagoons have created a constant source of environmental pollution during hurricanes, which frequent North Carolina’s coast.
“Lagoons overflowed or breached in 1996 during Hurricane Fran, in 1998 during Hurricane Bonnie, in 1999 during Hurricane Floyd, in 2016 during Hurricane Matthew, and just last month during Hurricane Florence — 33 overflowed.”
Hurricanes, which hit North Carolina with regularity, clearly compound the environmental problems associated with hog CAFOs, but it’s an inescapable issue for residents year-round.
When the lagoons are emptied by spraying the liquid waste onto fields, nearby residents are quite literally showered with liquefied feces, and several studies have noted the health dangers of living near these CAFOs.
A North Carolina swine farm nuisance lawsuit even presents evidence of hog DNA collected from the walls in residential homes.
Many find the stench unbearable and the air hard to breathe.
Most recently, a study published in the North Carolina Medical Journal found communities near hog CAFOs have higher mortality rates from anemia, kidney disease, TB and septicemia, as well as higher infant mortality.
[…]
Antibiotic-resistant pathogens are a CAFO scourge
American livestock farmers use nearly 30 million pounds of antibiotics each year in the raising of their animals.
Most of these are raised in CAFOs, where overcrowding, lack of sanitation, stress and an unnatural diet make the animals prone to illness. Antibiotics are routinely added to their feed to combat disease.
Antibiotics also have the side effect of promoting growth, making the animals grow fatter faster, which is another reason for the drugs’ use.
This agricultural use accounts for about 80% of all antibiotics used in the U.S., making it a significant source of continuous low-dose exposure via your diet.
However, while low-dose antibiotic exposure is a health risk, a far more significant concern is the antibiotic-resistant bacteria CAFO meats may harbor. As revealed by a recent analysis of food testing done by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015, 83% of meats sold in U.S. supermarkets are contaminated with enterococcus faecalis, i.e., fecal bacteria.
A high percentage are also contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria:
- 79% of ground turkey samples were contaminated with drug-resistant enterococcus faecalis; 73% of the salmonella found on ground turkey was antibiotic-resistant salmonella.
- 71% of pork chops were contaminated with drug-resistant enterococcus faecalis
- 62% of ground beef samples were contaminated with drug-resistant enterococcus faecalis.
- 36% of chicken breasts, legs, thighs and wings were contaminated with drug-resistant enterococcus faecalis; 1 in 5 strains of salmonella was resistant to amoxicillin, a type of penicillin, which as a class is designated as “critically important” in human medicine.
Drug-resistant bacteria from feedlots go airborne
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are not just in the meat, however.
Researchers have found that drug-resistant pathogens can also spread from CAFO feedlots into the environment via the air, spreading far and wide by the wind.
Between August and December 2012, Phil Smith, an associate professor of terrestrial ecotoxicology at Texas Tech and his colleague, Greg Mayer, an associate professor of molecular toxicology, collected air samples from 10 commercial cattle yards within a 200-mile radius of Lubbock, Texas.
[…]
The pair explain that the drug-resistant genes are contained in the fecal matter. When it dries, it allows the genes to spread by winds over great distances.
The study estimates that the amount of potentially contaminated dust particles released by cattle yards in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas exceeds 46,000 pounds (21,000 kg) per day.
So not only can you be exposed to antibiotic-resistant bacteria via water and contaminated meat, depending on where you live, but simply breathing could be a route of exposure as well.
Smith also notes that microbes are “promiscuous with their genetic information,” and can share their genetic information across species. What this means is that microbes that have not been directly exposed to antibiotics may still develop resistance, simply by coming into contact with drug-resistant bacteria.
The fact that this mingling may occur just about anywhere — even out in nature — is troubling, as it implies there’s virtually no way to stop the progression of resistance. It simply cannot be confined.
Cattle industry tries to kill the story
As reported by Texas Monthly, the findings caused quite the headache for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
Its president and CEO, Ross Wilson, said the idea that antibiotic-resistant bacteria were airborne was “a big accusation” based on “a superficial, initial set of science.”
“They found genetic material. That does not mean that there’s any organism that is out there that is going to transfer that potential resistance,” Wilson said. “And if people expect us to sit idly by and not defend our members when some are alleging this is our fault, it’s not happening.”
Mayer and Smith agree there are unanswered questions, such as “What is the consequence of the bacteria’s gene sequence when it lands?” and “Can it cause an infection in humans?”
Texas Monthly continues:
“If the bacteria are dead, though, then what Smith and Mayer found was naked DNA, which is released by bacteria after their cell walls have decomposed. When these pieces of DNA fall out of the wind, they can be picked up by bacteria on the ground, in a process known as transformation.
“If live bacteria downwind of the feed yard absorbed the DNA found in Smith and Mayer’s samples, they could acquire antibiotic resistance, though the process is much less efficient than conjugation.
“Smith and Mayer don’t know if the bacteria they detected downwind of the feedlots were dead or alive.
“Nor do they know at what concentrations the bacteria might be found as they move farther away from the feedlots. But they had demonstrated that antibiotic resistance could be spread on the wind.”
Disturbed by comments made by Smith and Mayer during the media storm that followed the publication of their findings, Wilson called the duo for a meeting, in which he asked them to dial back the media attention.
According to Texas Monthly:
“The incident upset Smith and Mayer, who have both grown weary of the controversy their research has sparked.
“‘This is like nothing I have ever experienced in science before. And it’s not that we haven’t done cooler things, better things, more technical things,’ said Mayer.
“‘It’s just that there isn’t a big industry that cares about it.’
“Smith put it another way. ‘They would like nothing more than for us to zip our mouths, put our instruments away, and never do another study,’ he said … ‘I just don’t like to be bullied.’”
[…]
Via https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/infant-mortality-kidney-disease-cafo-factory-farms-cola/
THANKS TO: https://stuartbramhall.wordpress.com/2023/05/18/higher-infant-mortality-kidney-disease-and-tb-linked-to-living-near-factory-farms/
