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November 2009, Vol 99, No. S3 | American Journal of Public Health S610-S615
© 2009 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.148924

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Malodor as a Trigger of Stress and Negative Mood in Neighbors of Industrial Hog Operations

Rachel Avery Horton, PhD, Steve Wing, PhD, Stephen W. Marshall, PhD and Kimberly A. Brownley, PhD

Rachel Avery Horton and Steve Wing are with the Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Stephen W. Marshall is with the Departments of Epidemiology, Orthopedics, and Exercise and Sport Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Kimberly A. Brownley is with the Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Correspondence: Correspondence should be sent to Rachel Avery Horton, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB# 7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7435 (e-mail: ravery{at}email.unc.edu). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking on the "Reprints/Eprints" link.

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 µg/m3 change in semivolatile particulate matter less than 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10).

Conclusions. Hog odor, hydrogen sulfide, and semivolatile PM10 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.






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