Maria Mirabelli, MPH, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB# 7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7435, 919-966-6652, Maria.Mirabelli@unc.edu

To assess the extent to which adolescents may be exposed to bioaerosol emissions from large-scale swine production facilities located near public schools, we used public records about schools and industrial hog operations to generate estimates of in-school exposure. To validate the record-based estimates we compared school-level exposure estimates to survey responses about the frequency and severity of livestock-related odor noticeable from the school buildings.

Three measures of potential exposure were generated for each school: distance to the nearest operation (range: 0.22 – 42 miles), number of operations within five miles of the school location (range: 0 – 72), and an index of exposure developed using information about distance between schools and operations, size of the operations, and average wind direction (range: 0 – 39).

For schools located within two miles of an industrial hog operation, survey respondents reported noticing odor from a livestock farm outside (67% (22/33) and inside (30% (10/33)) the school building more often than respondents at schools located beyond two miles (28% (47/170) and 14% (23/170), respectively). Similarly, the prevalence of school-level odor ratings between very faint and very strong monotonically increased across quartiles of exposure (i.e., exposure index > 0) from 16% (3/19) in the lowest quartile to 67% (14/21) in the highest.

Estimates generated using existing data reflect survey responses about the frequency and strength of odor from livestock farms. Therefore, in states where school-aged children are exposed to airborne emissions from industrial hog operations, publicly available data sources may offer sufficient data to estimate in-school exposures.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

(
• identify sources of data used to estimate airborne exposure to dust and gases from industrial hog operations in North Carolina; (
• discuss the use and suitability of using existing and publicly available data to construct ecologic metrics of exposure to estimate exposure potential at public schools.

Awards: Student Achievement Award - Recipient

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.