A Control Study of the Physical and Mental Health of Residents Living Near a Large-scale Swine Operation

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study assessing the physical and mental healthof residents living in the vicinity of a large-scale swine confinement operation. Physicaland mental health data were collected via personal interviews from a sample (n = 18) ofall neighbors living within a two-mile radius of a 4,000-sow swine production facility.Results were compared to similar data collected from a random sample ofdemographically comparable rural residents (n = 18) living near minimal livestockproduction. Results indicate that neighbors of the large-scale swine operation reportedexperiencing significantly higher rates of four clusters of symptoms known to representtoxic or inflammatory effects on the respiratory tract. These clusters of symptoms havebeen well-documented among swine confinement workers. There was no evidence tosuggest that neighbors of the large-scale swine operation suffered higher rates ofpsychological health problems manifested as anxiety or depression. A largerpopulation-based study is needed to test the hypothesis that neighbors of large-scaleswine operations experience elevated rates of physical health symptoms comparable tointerior confinement workers.