Industrial Hog Farms and Neurological Problems

[Guest guest]

I'm writing to call attention to this article in today's NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/health/11HOGS.html?th

The subject is neurological damage from hydrogen sulfide exposures from hog waste cesspools and direct spraying into the air. Areas of highest concern: Iowa, eastern North Carolina are the largest hog producing states in the country, but the problem is by no means limited to these areas. Background: in the last 30 years traditional hog farming has been replaced by high density hog "confinement" systemsl. Respiratory problems have been well documented both in the workers and close neighbors and are related to ammonia and endotoxin exposure, primarily. I am also aware of dermatological problems in these workers. However, this was the first I have read about chronic neurological problems. Acute problems, yes -- stir up the lagoons in a confined space and the animals and people die from hydrogen sulfide poisoning.

Yet, I work in Duplin County, NC, one of the three NC counties with the largest number of hog producers in the state, and do see people with vague neurological complaints that I can't explain or do much about --

Please, think of this article when you see livestock farmworkers with neurological symptoms - especially when there are no other risk factors. If anyone has come across more academic sources -- please pass them on. Thank you.

Jo Ellen Hirsch, M.D.