In communities living next to the factory farm, residents have long voiced concerns about environmental pollution. Research now shows that not only can we see the air pollution produced by industrial pig facilities, it also disproportionately affects communities of color all the way from space.
New research published in Environmental Science and Technology Satellite data were used to measure ammonia, a common contaminant produced by factory farms from large quantities of animal fertilizers in North Carolina. In the eastern part of the state, University of Virginia researchers found increased levels of ammonia in areas with high concentrations of industrialized pig facilities.
In their study, they found significant population disparities. From 2016 to 2021, ammonia levels were 49% higher in Indigenous communities, 35% higher in Hispanic and Latino communities, and 27% higher in Black communities compared to non-Hispanic communities.
Ammonia has a clearly unpleasant smell and can irritate the respiratory ducts and skin. Therefore, for those living near these facilities, these findings probably won't be a surprise – they can smell and feel it. 2022 documentary The smell of moneyFollowing the community's battle with factory farms in North Carolina, residents spoke about the rebellious smells that force them to smell everyday, forcing them to experience chronic diseases like difficulty breathing, nausea and asthma.
However, this information may be obvious to residents affected by the factory farm, and it is important to have data supporting claims of air pollution and other nuisance, according to the University of Virginia Bureau. said Sally Puddes, the lead author of the study. of environmental science. What makes this study unique is that it has been measured for air quality effects and proves its unequal distribution in eastern North Carolina's colour communities.
The study also highlighted the gap between tools and regulations. Researchers consistently measured ammonia that was not regularly monitored by state or federal agencies using space-based technology.
“There are very few air pollution measurements associated with industrialized agriculture from the ground,” Pusete told Vox. Even if residents experience the health effects of ammonia exposure, they can hardly be done if there is no data or system that indicates that they are exposed. “If there's no data to show it and support it, these claims can be contested.”
How to measure ammonia from space
There are five standards for air pollutants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitor is mandatory under the Cleanup Act for Particulates, Ozone, Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Dioxide.
The Clean Air Act, enacted in 1963, was intended to reduce pollution from more and more automobiles, power plants, and other industrial sources. In particular, ammonia is not one of these regulated pollutants, nor is it another agricultural-related pollutant, such as nitric oxide or hydrogen sulfide.
The 2018 settlement after the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality filed a 2014 federal civil rights complaint claiming that contamination released from nearby pig facilities was disproportionately in non-white, low-income communities. agreed to conduct an air surveillance investigation in Dupurin County.
As part of the settlement, the State Department of Environmental Affairs Air Quality (DAQ) measured contaminants that include ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and PM2.5 (a deadly contaminant also known as particulate matter) over the course of a year. When DAQ concluded the study, it presented its findings: ammonia concentrations could not be detected on any of the five times, and only one of the opportunities approached the “acceptable ambient levels” in North Carolina .
So, despite years of experience with strong odors and health conditions, how can state measurements find measurable concentrations of ammonia? Pusede says the results of her team's research raise many questions about how well the state's research has been done.
“I think there is a conflict between agencies that have key goals regulatory compliance and agencies that have key goals protection,” Pusede said. She also said that the equipment used by DAQ may not have properly detected ammonia levels.
In Pusede's study, researchers measured ammonia levels on an infrared air aspirator (IASI) located on orbital satellites. “It's a space-based device that takes advantage of the fact that certain gases interact with light at very specific wavelengths,” says Pusede. “We can take that interaction and use it to generate column concentrations for a particular contaminant.”
IASI collects data spatially every day. This allowed researchers to map ammonia levels over a long period of time with the entire North Carolina region. Alongside IASI, researchers use data from the US Census Bureau to access data on race and ethnicity in North Carolina, and use weather condition data to calculate average wind speeds and temperatures, and to North Carolina Environmental Quality A database of the department's allowed industrialized pig facilities was calculated.
Researchers also found that weather conditions could exacerbate these inequalities. On hot days, ammonia inequality was 31% higher in black communities than in white communities. On days with mild winds, ammonia inequality rose 64% in Indigenous communities. The gap on windy days is twice as high.
According to Pusede, ammonia moves downwind, deposits on the ground, and when the surface warms, contaminants can return to the air in a process called ammonia bidirectional flux. This means that ammonia can decompose air quality beyond the immediate vicinity of pig facilities, an average of five kilometers (or just over three miles) of these facilities from April to August, onwards. It states. However, in all 50 states, the “Agricultural Rights” Act limits who can file a complaint. In North Carolina, only those who live half a mile from the location of the alleged nuisance (such as a terrible smell) can take action.
The rising levels of ammonia on hot days are also a source of concern when we are facing a global warming crisis. Hoarst days mean greater ammonia spreading and more opportunities to further strengthen air pollution inequality in Black, Hispanic and Indigenous communities.
However, none of these results surprised Pusede. “What we found was consistent with what people were saying,” she said.
“Part of the question is, why are there black holes in eastern North Carolina in terms of ammonia?” said Chris Brown, director of research and education at the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network. (This was one of the groups that filed a 2014 complaint). “That's because our regulators have been able to do this rapidly expanding our incredibly environmentally dangerous economic model,” they told VOX.
The scope of this new UVA study will help show the scale of the problem, Brown says.
Long-standing health effects of factory farms
In fact, there is a healthy amount of scientific evidence that the agriculture industry is having a negative impact on air quality in places like North Carolina, one of the nation's top pork producers. One study found that 17,900 deaths per year due to reduced air quality due to industry activity, and that the large drivers of these deaths came from ammonia emissions from animal waste and fertilizer spraying. Ta.
“While you're living, it can affect your health quality,” says Jason Hill, the lead author of the study, a professor at the University of Minnesota's Faculty of Biobiology and Biosystems Engineering. said Jason Hill. “However, it can also increase the chances of death early as a result of acute conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, and cancer.”
Hill's study found that there are various inventions that could be taken to reduce air quality deaths from food producers. Reduce food waste, reduce equipment emissions, improve fertilizer application processes, and fertilizer management. Together, his team estimated that this could reduce premature deaths related to food production by 50%.
Pusede says findings from her team's research could be used by the state for future decision-making, including incorporating research measures into the Ministry of Environmental Quality community mapping tool. Factory farms, permits, and health data.
According to Brown, UVA studies show the need for air quality permits. “We need standards that allow each facility to manage and monitor their own air emissions and hold them accountable,” they said.
Air pollution isn't the only thing people worry about. Waterways tend to be contaminated with contaminants from factories' farm waste, putting the health of our people and the integrity of one of our main natural resources at risk. North Carolina is also a state that is particularly prone to hurricanes, and when these disasters occur, factory farms have flooding and “all of which are all about feces, urine and waste,” Brown said.
Despite research and living experience showing the health effects of the agricultural industry and various solutions to alleviate these harms, it is as simple as regulating and monitoring these contaminants. Even this has rarely been changed at the policy level. “I'm very interested in not knowing what these emissions are and not being bound by any particular facility,” Hill said.
Having that knowledge through mandatory measurements and pollutant monitoring would hopefully hold the agricultural industry accountable in some way. However, with the strong industry, it is unlikely that measures should be taken to protect the public anytime soon.
“Even if we acquire tools for accountability, the power structure of agriculture within the state legislature is so close that we are being taken away from the tools we have been robbed,” Brown said.
For now, research like Pusede's community backup claims of health and livelihood harm from these facilities, driving the fight to clean air and water.
