Malodor as a trigger of stress and negative mood in neighbors of industrial hog operations.
OBJECTIVE
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.
Horton
Rachel Avery
RA
Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB# 7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7435, USA. ravery@email.unc.edu
Wing
Steve
S
Marshall
Stephen W
SW
Brownley
Kimberly A
KA
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006799:Housing, Animal; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009341:Negativism; D009657:North Carolina; D009812:Odorants; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*; D013552:Swine
D000393:Air Pollutants