IFAP facilities can be very harmful to workers, neighbors and even those living far away from the facilities through air and water pollution. The workers and neighbors of the IFAP facilities experience higher levels of respiratory problems. Workers can serve as a bridging population by transmitting animal-borne diseases to a wider population. The meat also has antibiotics in them to stimulate growth which can lead to a resistance in the body. So when you're prescribed antibiotics for something like strep throat, the antibiotics may not work because your body has developed a resistance to it. And a lack of appropriate treatment of enormous amounts of waste may result in contamination in nearby waters with very harmful levels of nutrients and toxins like bacteria, fungi and viruses.
Topic 2: Energy, Water Stress, Animal Waste Management in North Carolina
When large numbers of animals are raised together they're usually in confinement buildings which could increase the likelihood for health issues with the potential to affect humans which could result from disease carried by the animals or their waste. Animal waste could harbor a number of pathogens and chemical contaminants, but it's usually left untreated. Most of the time it's sprayed on the fields as fertilizer but that raises the potential for contamination with the air, water and soil. The water is a big concern. Groundwater contamination can affect drinking water supplies at a huge distance from the source. But there's a use for all that waste. North Carolina has begun using biomass as an energy resource and you can get that from agricultural resources like crops and animal waste.
Sources:
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/states/images/maps/map_large_biomass_NC.jpg
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