Endotoxin and particulate matter emitted by livestock farms and respiratory health effects in neighboring residents.

BACKGROUND

Living in livestock-dense areas has been associated with health effects, suggesting airborne exposures to livestock farm emissions to be relevant for public health. Livestock farm emissions involve complex mixtures of various gases and particles. Endotoxin, a pro-inflammatory agent of microbial origin, is a constituent of livestock farm emitted particulate matter (PM) that is potentially related to the observed health effects. Quantification of livestock associated endotoxin exposure at residential addresses in relation to health outcomes has not been performed earlier.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to assess exposure-response relations for a range of respiratory endpoints and atopic sensitization in relation to livestock farm associated PM and endotoxin levels.

METHODS

Self-reported respiratory symptoms of 12,117 persons participating in a population-based cross-sectional study were analyzed. For 2494 persons, data on lung function (spirometry) and serologically assessed atopic sensitization was additionally available. Annual-average PM and endotoxin concentrations at home addresses were predicted by dispersion modelling and land-use regression (LUR) modelling. Exposure-response relations were analyzed with generalized additive models.

RESULTS

Health outcomes were generally more strongly associated with exposure to livestock farm emitted endotoxin compared to PM. An inverse association was observed for dispersion modelled exposure with atopic sensitization (endotoxin: p = .004, PM: p = .07) and asthma (endotoxin: p = .029, PM: p = .022). Prevalence of respiratory symptoms decreased with increasing endotoxin concentration at the lower range, while at the higher range prevalence increased with increasing concentration (p < .05). Associations between lung function parameters with exposure to PM and endotoxin were not statistically significant (p > .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Exposure to livestock farm emitted particulate matter is associated with respiratory health effects and atopic sensitization in non-farming residents. Results indicate endotoxin to be a potentially plausible etiologic agent, suggesting non-infectious aspects of microbial emissions from livestock farms to be important with respect to public health.