by Emily PayneSensitive media
People living near high concentrations of factory farms may have an increased risk of cancer, a new study suggests. Although public health and environment Effects of centralized animal feeding operationsor CAFOs, is well-documented, the investigation is the first to examine cancer links across multiple regions and cancer types in the United States.
Yale University researchers analyzed county-level cancer rates from 2000 to 2021 in Iowa, Texas and California, comparing areas with high concentrations of factory farms to similar counties. They found that overall cancer rates “significantly increased” in counties with more animal feeding operations.
Factory farms produce large amounts of fertilizer. Iowa swine alone produce an estimated 110 billion pounds of manure each year—at least 100 times the fecal waste produced by Iowa’s entire human population. Almost all pigs in Iowa are raised in CAFOs. Usually stored in large outdoor ponds called lagoons, CAFO manure produces harmful amounts of air pollutants, including ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and particulate matter, and polluted runoff can spread pathogens and nitrates into local waterways.
A recent report by the Iowa Environmental Council and the Harkin Institute found that high levels of environmental pollutants, including nitrates, are linked to cancer risk and are ubiquitous across Iowa. The second is the state– Highest and fastest growing cancer rates in the United States. Iowa oncologist Dr. Richard Deming, a co-author of the report, said this is consistent with the Yale study. “When you know the relationship between CAFOs and nitrates that get into the water, it doesn’t surprise me that this is another study that supports the data,” he says.
Yale study researchers found a positive correlation between animal feeding operation density and rates of nearly all cancers. Counties with many industrial farms had higher overall cancer rates than control counties: 4% higher in California and 8% higher in both Iowa and Texas.
Some cancer types showed stronger correlations than others, but Deming explained that this variability is to be expected when looking at environmental risk factors. Cancers may not appear for decades after environmental exposures, and these exposures also interact with genetics and known risk factors such as tobacco use, diet, exercise levels, and alcohol consumption.
“It would be easier to interpret the data if nitrate only caused one cancer and you could track it, and there was a parallel relationship between nitrate and one cancer,” Deming said. “The way cancer develops, that’s not how it happens.”
There are also complex socioeconomic factors that make it difficult to link cancer cases directly to CAFO pollution, said Ann Schechinger, senior director of agriculture and climate research at the advocacy nonprofit Environmental Working Group.
“Tying something specific to increased cancer rates is especially tricky in rural counties, because we know rural counties often have less access to preventive health care, lower income, higher age,” Schechinger said.
Yale study researchers ran statistical analyzes to pair similar counties based on factors including race and ethnicity, education level, income, age, smoking and urban versus rural status.
They used the US Environmental Protection Agency Definition of animal feeding operation: A facility where animals are housed and fed in a confined area for at least 45 days in a 12-month period where no crops or vegetation are grown. CAFOs are animal feeding operations that meet a certain size thresholdSuch as at least 700 dairy cattle, 2,500 swine or 100,000 laying hens.
EPA requires large CAFOs to hold a permit to control their water pollution. But in 2024, Less than one-third of CAFOs in the country have these permits. all Other facilities do not require this permit, which represents the majority of animal feeding operations in the United StatesThey may or may not be regulated at the state level depending on their location.
Because of this, Schechinger says looking at permitting data alone doesn’t capture the full scale of animal feeding operations in the United States.
“Especially in a state like Iowa, the data they get from the DNR (Iowa Department of Natural Resources) doesn’t represent the benefit of all the animals,” said Schechinger of the Yale study. Identifying smaller facilities, which can still house thousands of animals, and regulating them at the state level could help mitigate the public health impact of animal feeding operations, he noted.
For Deming, research findings call for investment in data collection at a time when researchers are facing declining funding.
“Collecting data like nitrates in water, requires some real field work… and while we realize we need to do more than that, the state of Iowa isn’t beginning to fund that data collection,” Deming said.
In 2023, the The Iowa Legislature is cutting funding for the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, which tracks real-time water quality data.including nitrate levels in the state’s waterways.
State and local public health officials also need to be empowered to look at the effects of factory farming, said Dr. Naman Shah, an epidemiologist at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Factory farms are generally not under the purview of public health departments, despite documented public health impacts.
“As we learn more about the health impacts of these businesses, we need a change in the regulatory code that really focuses on public health responsibility, which is about protecting the population in nearby communities,” Shah said. “Where traditionally compared to the Department of Agriculture, there is only one different mandate, including the promotion of industry.”
This article originally appeared on Sentient https://sentientmedia.org/cancer-rates-are-higher-near-factory-farms/.
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This story was originally published by sensitive
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