Malodor as a trigger of stress and negative mood in neighbors of industrial hog operations

R.A. Horton, S. Wing, S.W. Marshall and K.A. Brownley

American Journal of Public Health, 2009, vol. 99, issue S3, S610-615

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: We evaluated malodor and air pollutants near industrial hog operations as environmental stressors and negative mood triggers. METHODS: We collected data from 101 nonsmoking adults in 16 neighborhoods within 1.5 miles of at least 1 industrial hog operation in eastern North Carolina. Participants rated malodor intensity, stress, and mood for 2 weeks while air pollutants were monitored. RESULTS: Reported malodor was associated with stress and 4 mood states; odds ratios (ORs) for a 1-unit change on the 0-to-8 odor scale ranged from 1.31 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16, 1.50) to 1.81 (95% CI = 1.63, 2.00). ORs for stress and feeling nervous or anxious were 1.18 (95% CI = 1.08, 1.30) and 1.12 (95% CI = 1.03, 1.22), respectively, for a 1 ppb change in hydrogen sulfide and 1.06 (95% CI = 1.00, 1.11) and 1.10 (95% CI = 1.03, 1.17), respectively, for a 1 microg/m(3) change in semivolatile particulate matter less than 10 microm in aerodynamic diameter (PM(10)). CONCLUSIONS: Hog odor, hydrogen sulfide, and semivolatile PM(10) are related to stress and negative mood in disproportionately low-income communities near industrial hog operations in eastern North Carolina. Malodor should be considered in studies of health impacts of environmental injustice.

Date: 2009
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