Factory Farms’ Toxic Emissions

As if factory farms weren’t horrific enough, a new report outlines the environmental destruction caused by massive chicken operations throughout the US. According to the Environmental Integrity Project, a national program formed by employees of the EPA angered by the Bush administration, chicken farms in ten states last year released an estimated 481.7 million pounds of toxic ammonia emissions. The amount is particularly significant because it is more than eight times the combined total from industrial sources such as steel mills and refineries, some of the most widely known culprits of environmental destruction. At high concentrations, ammonia emissions affect air quality and can cause respiratory irritation and lung damage. The message is clearer than ever: Going veg is good for your health and the planet.