{"title":"Disparities in exposure to concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and other animal feeding operations across multiple states in USA.","authors":"Ji-Young Son, Brandon M Lewis, Michelle L Bell","doi":"10.1038/s41370-025-00783-1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Animal feeding operations (AFOs), including concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), pose significant environmental degradation and health risks. These facilities are often disproportionately located in disadvantaged communities, however, findings are inconsistent.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>We investigated disparities in AFO/CAFO exposure across seven US states, focusing on variables related to environmental justice (EJ) and at-risk populations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We linked AFO/CAFO data from seven states (Iowa, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin) to ZIP code-level census variables. We assessed exposure by calculating area-weighted number of AFO/CAFO within 15 km buffers and categorized ZIP codes into no, low, medium, and high exposure groups. Our analysis compared the spatial distributions of AFO/CAFO exposure and variables related to EJ and at-risk populations by exposure intensity.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found differences in the distributions of AFO/CAFO exposure and variables related to EJ and at-risk populations among states. In some states (e.g., North Carolina, Pennsylvania), AFOs/CAFOs were densely clustered in specific areas, while in others (e.g., Iowa, Wisconsin), they were more evenly distributed. We found disproportionate exposure to AFO/CAFO in disadvantaged communities such as communities with high percentages of racial/ethnic minority persons and low socioeconomic status in some states, whereas other states showed different patterns. Trends varied by state, with some showing increasing Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic populations with higher exposure (e.g., North Carolina), while others showed opposite trends (e.g., Pennsylvania). Education, poverty, and income levels also varied, with some states (e.g., North Carolina, South Carolina) showing higher poverty rates, lower education level, and lower incomes in higher exposure groups and other states showing reverse trends (e.g., Wisconsin).</p><p><strong>Impact: </strong>This study investigated disparities in AFO/CAFO exposure across seven US states. We applied an advanced exposure metric and considered multiple variables to capture diverse aspects of environmental injustice and disadvantaged communities. Our findings across multiple states provide valuable insights that can inform policy development and help mitigate exposure disparities across various populations and locations.</p>","PeriodicalId":15684,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12413751/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-025-00783-1","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Animal feeding operations (AFOs), including concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), pose significant environmental degradation and health risks. These facilities are often disproportionately located in disadvantaged communities, however, findings are inconsistent.
Objective: We investigated disparities in AFO/CAFO exposure across seven US states, focusing on variables related to environmental justice (EJ) and at-risk populations.
Methods: We linked AFO/CAFO data from seven states (Iowa, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin) to ZIP code-level census variables. We assessed exposure by calculating area-weighted number of AFO/CAFO within 15 km buffers and categorized ZIP codes into no, low, medium, and high exposure groups. Our analysis compared the spatial distributions of AFO/CAFO exposure and variables related to EJ and at-risk populations by exposure intensity.
Results: We found differences in the distributions of AFO/CAFO exposure and variables related to EJ and at-risk populations among states. In some states (e.g., North Carolina, Pennsylvania), AFOs/CAFOs were densely clustered in specific areas, while in others (e.g., Iowa, Wisconsin), they were more evenly distributed. We found disproportionate exposure to AFO/CAFO in disadvantaged communities such as communities with high percentages of racial/ethnic minority persons and low socioeconomic status in some states, whereas other states showed different patterns. Trends varied by state, with some showing increasing Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic populations with higher exposure (e.g., North Carolina), while others showed opposite trends (e.g., Pennsylvania). Education, poverty, and income levels also varied, with some states (e.g., North Carolina, South Carolina) showing higher poverty rates, lower education level, and lower incomes in higher exposure groups and other states showing reverse trends (e.g., Wisconsin).
Impact: This study investigated disparities in AFO/CAFO exposure across seven US states. We applied an advanced exposure metric and considered multiple variables to capture diverse aspects of environmental injustice and disadvantaged communities. Our findings across multiple states provide valuable insights that can inform policy development and help mitigate exposure disparities across various populations and locations.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (JESEE) aims to be the premier and authoritative source of information on advances in exposure science for professionals in a wide range of environmental and public health disciplines.
JESEE publishes original peer-reviewed research presenting significant advances in exposure science and exposure analysis, including development and application of the latest technologies for measuring exposures, and innovative computational approaches for translating novel data streams to characterize and predict exposures. The types of papers published in the research section of JESEE are original research articles, translation studies, and correspondence. Reported results should further understanding of the relationship between environmental exposure and human health, describe evaluated novel exposure science tools, or demonstrate potential of exposure science to enable decisions and actions that promote and protect human health.