The association between proximity to animal feeding operations and community health: a systematic review.
BACKGROUND
A systematic review was conducted for the association between animal feeding operations (AFOs) and the health of individuals living near AFOs.


RESULTS
The review was restricted to studies reporting respiratory, gastrointestinal and mental health outcomes in individuals living near AFOs in North America, European Union, United Kingdom, and Scandinavia. From June to September 2008 searches were conducted in PUBMED, CAB, Web-of-Science, and Agricola with no restrictions. Hand searching of narrative reviews was also used. Two reviewers independently evaluated the role of chance, confounding, information, selection and analytic bias on the study outcome. Nine relevant studies were identified. The studies were heterogeneous with respect to outcomes and exposures assessed. Few studies reported an association between surrogate clinical outcomes and AFO proximity. A negative association was reported when odor was the measure of exposure to AFOs and self-reported disease, the measure of outcome. There was evidence of an association between self-reported disease and proximity to AFO in individuals annoyed by AFO odor.


CONCLUSIONS
There was inconsistent evidence of a weak association between self-reported disease in people with allergies or familial history of allergies. No consistent dose response relationship between exposure and disease was observable.
Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America. oconnor@iastate.edu
Annette M
AM
O'Connor
Brent
B
Auvermann
Danelle
D
Bickett-Weddle
Steve
S
Kirkhorn
Jan M
JM
Sargeant
Alejandro
A
Ramirez
Susanna G
SG
Von Essen
D000821:Animal Feed; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005062:European Union; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008603:Mental Health; D009656:North America; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012537:Scandinavian and Nordic Countries; D006113:United Kingdom