Hydrogen Sulfide Concentrations at Three Middle Schools Near Industrial Livestock Facilities

Safe school environments are essential for healthy development, yet some schools are near large-scale livestock facilities that emit air pollution. Hydrogen sulfide (HS) from decomposing manure is an indicator of livestock-related air pollution. We measured outdoor concentrations of HS at three public middle schools near livestock facilities in North Carolina. We used circular graphs to relate HS detection and wind direction to geospatial distributions of nearby livestock barns. We also used logistic and linear regression to model HS in relation to upwind, distance-weighted livestock barn area. Circular graphs suggested an association between upwind livestock barns and HS detection. The log-odds of HS detection per 1000 m increased with upwind weighted swine barn area (School A: β-coefficient (β)=0.43, SE=0.06; School B: β=0.64, SE=0.24) and upwind weighted poultry barn area (School A: β=0.05, SE=0.01), with stronger associations during periods of atmospheric stability than atmospheric instability (School A stable: β=0.69, SE=0.11; School A unstable: β=0.32, SE=0.09). HS concentration also increased linearly with upwind swine barn area, with greater increases during stable atmospheric conditions (stable: β=0.16 parts per billion (p.p.b.), SE=0.01; unstable: β=0.05 p.p.b., SE=0.01). Off-site migration of pollutants from industrial livestock operations can decrease air quality at nearby schools.