Asthma Danger To Rural Children
IOWA Public Radio
December 12, 2004
Children living close to large factory hog farms have a higher than
normal incidence of ASTHMA than children who do not live in such
areas. Those children living close to factory farms that use
antibiotics on the swine incur the highest rate of ASTHMA.
This information was reported on IOWA Public Radio Friday, December
10th and is from a study in part by Dr. James A. Merchant. Dr.
Merchant is Dean of the University of IOWA College of Public Health in
IOWA City. The College of Public Health at the U of I teaches and
publishes research on causes of rural illness and prevention as well as
environmental health policy. They also have published information
on “Cancer In IOWA”, the “IOWA Birth Defects Registry Annual Report”
and “Environmental Health Science Research”.
Connections between use of pesticides and prostate cancer are
laid out in their 2004 College of Public Health Research
Publication. On page 16 entitled “All in a Day's Work” it
states: “In IOWA individual farm holders have 27% increased
risk of prostate cancer, while commercial pesticide applicators have a
41% increased risk.”
(See: www.public-health.uiowa.edu/news/pubs)
(Also see: www.ehsrc.org and www.aghealth.org)
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