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Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) is a monthly journal of peer-reviewed research and news on the impact of the environment on human health. EHP is published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and its content is free online. Print issues are available by paid subscription.DISCLAIMER
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Environmental Health Perspectives Supplements Volume 110, Number S2, April 2002 Open Access
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Environmental Injustice and the Mississippi Hog Industry

Sacoby M. Wilson,1 Frank Howell,2 Steve Wing,3 and Mark Sobsey1

1Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; 2Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, USA; 3Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

Abstract

The recent growth and restructuring of the swine industry in the state of Mississippi has raised various environmental and socioeconomic concerns. We spatially examined the location and attributes of 67 industrial hog operations to determine if African American and low-income communities have a high prevalence of industrial hog operations located near their neighborhoods at the census block group level. We used spatial data and cross-classification analysis to compare the prevalence of industrial hog operations in neighborhoods that are primarily African American and low income with the prevalence in neighborhoods that are African American and affluent. We also used logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between the environmental justice variables and the location of the industrial hog operations. The block group characterization showed a high prevalence of hog operations in the four highest quintiles compared with the lowest quintile for percentage African American and percentage poverty. At increasing levels of percentage African Americans and percentage of persons in poverty, there are 2.4-3.6 times more operations compared with the referent group ; additionally, scale adjustment to only the hog counties reduces this to 1.8-3.1 more operations compared with the referent group. The inequitable distribution of hog-confined agricultural feeding operations in these communities may have adverse environmental impacts associated with industrial hog production, such as increased health risks and quality of life degradation, as have occurred in other areas having similar facilities. Key words: , , , , , , , , , , . Environ Health Perspect 110(suppl 2) :195-201 (2002) .

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2002/suppl-2/195-201wilson/abstract.html

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