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Health
impacts of air pollution/stench from CAFOs are a significant concern to people
forced to live in stinking distance of these facilities. Now a study from
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, published in Environmental Health Perspectives (Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 113, Number 2, February 2005
see article at EHP 113:137-142 ) bolsters the cause for concern among the victims of
air pollutants from CAFOs and those who care for and about them: “The researchers conclude that exposure to airborne
bacteria from a CAFO presents a potential pathway for transferring
antibiotic-resistant bacteria from animals to humans. CAFO workers and the
people with whom they come in direct contact, as well as neighbors near the
operations and areas of land where animal wastes are applied, may be especially
at risk. Continuing research of the transfer of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
from animals to humans needs to encompass a variety of environmental media that
may serve as exposure sources.” (Airborne
Bacteria in CAFOs: Transfer of Resistance from Animals to Humans, EHP,
February 2005) But maybe you should hold your breath, if
you live near a CAFO, because of the Bush Administration’s decision to
give CAFO operators immunity from prosecution for air pollution problems from
CAFOs if they “buy in” to an indefinite “study” of the
air pollution problems from CAFOs, and because Michigan’s air pollution law
preventing the MDEQ from enforcing nuisance prohibitions against CAFOs until
and unless the MDA Director makes a air quality referral to the MDEQ. Anne Woiwode _________________________________________________________________________ Anne Woiwode, Director, Sierra Club Mackinac
Chapter 517-484-2372, fax 517-484-3108 www.michigan.sierraclub.org |