SECTION 3:
Mushroom Farms & Human Health Implications
Also: Toxic Gases, Respiratory Problems, & Psychosomatic Disorders Via Stress
THE GASES EMITTED THROUGH MUSHROOM FARMING
PERSONAL STUDY
This pdf file (mushroom.htm, 736 KB) provides a brief study of the effects (both toxicological and psychosomatic) of air pollution in terms of mushroom farming. Gases emitted by mushroom farms can be quite toxic. It is a public health issue, both in terms of toxic gases, and in terms of the stress placed on those who cannot escape the odour 24/7.
For convenience, the text of the PDF is presented here:
AIR POLLUTION PROBLEM AT McGRATHS HILL – A SHORT PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT
By Murray Thompson, BAppSc (Environmental Health), Hons I (Social Ecology), University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury
INTRODUCTION
My name is Murray Thompson. I am the author of this statement, a resident of Bligh Park, and a full-time PhD student at the University of Western Sydney – Hawkesbury. As I am going to make some statements regarding human health in relation to air pollution at McGraths Hill, I should provide an outline of my general experience and qualifications. This can be found in the endnotes[i].
DISCUSSION
COMPLAINTS REGARDING THE AIR POLLUTION ISSUE AT McGRATHS HILL FALL INTO 2 BROAD CATEGORIES:
1. AIR POLLUTION AFFECTING THE BREATHING, EYESIGHT AND SKIN OF LOCAL RESIDENTS.
2. AIR POLLUTION INTERRUPTING THE NORMAL SLEEP PATTERNS OF LOCAL RESIDENTS, DIMINISHING THE ENJOYMENT OF OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES, AND NEGATIVELY IMPACTING ON CHILDREN STUDYING AT WINDSOR HIGH SCHOOL.
1. AIR POLLUTION IMPACTS: TOXICOLOGICAL OUTCOMES.
The composting of mushrooms releases large quantities of moisture and the gas ammonia. It is this gas that is associated with the unpleasant odor (Ministry of Agriculture and Food 1998:html document).
There is ample published material available that clearly describes the toxic potential of organic dusts, ammonia and methane in regard to human health. As well, there is also much research regarding the dangers of some gases on test animals, however this data is so disturbing that it should be considered cause for concern in relation to potential impacts on humans, especially the unborn and children. See Table 1 below for details. I have included some of the original sources of information for the occasional Internet reference used below in the Table in order to describe more clearly the broad studies that have been accessed for this study.
Table 1 Shows substances and the effects produced through exposure
SUBSTANCE
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DETAILS & EFFECTS
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Gases Ammonia compounds (produced during the decomposition of organic materials) |
Irritant to eyes, nose, throat and skin (Rowland & Cooper 1983:169-177). Ammonia is an eye irritant at levels greater than 20 to 25 ppm. Exposure to levels around 1,500 ppm will induce coughing and frothing at the mouth and levels of 5,000 ppm are deadly. Ammonia’s distinct odor can be detected by humans in concentrations as small as 5 ppm. 25 ppm is recommended frequently as a maximum acceptable level for ammonia concentrations. Burning eyes indicate that ammonia levels are at least 20 ppm (Lorimor, J., Schwab, C.V. & Miller, L. 1993:1-2). Field experience with workers exposed to blueprinting and copying machine ammonia sources indicates a maximum acceptable concentration of 20-25 ppm without severe complaints (Toxicology Data Network 2001:html document)[ii].
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SUBSTANCE
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DETAILS & EFFECTS
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Gases Ammonia compounds (produced during the decomposition of organic materials) cont |
More specifically, high concentrations of ammonia vapors cause conjunctivitis, laryngitis, pulmonary edema or pneumonitis, plus the sensation of suffocation. High vapor concentrations may lead to temporary blindness and even severe eye damage. Also, diffuse corneal damage and cataract formation has been noted in instances where 2 victims’ eyes were sprayed with ammonia[1]. Extensive systemic absorption of ammonia may induce hypertonus, convulsions and coma. Encephalopathy (which can result in neuropathological damage [Alzeimer Type II Astrocyosis]) is associated with hyperammonemia (see below for definition in blue font) which is measured by elevated serum ammonia levels (ibid). Although this example of serum ammonia is related to hyperalimentation or overfeeding, I believe that all the other data below leaves open the distinct possibility that hyperammonemia, along with many other disease symptoms and aggravated conditions, could arise from the continuous inhalation of high concentrations of ammonia vapors. In support of this, occupational medical recommendations include that, for any employee exposed to potentially hazardous levels of ammonia, a complete physical examination and medical history be undertaken in order to determine if there are any existing conditions making the employee more susceptible to damage. As well, it has been stated that inhalation of ammonia leading to increased circulating ammonia puts an individual with compromised liver function at risk of hepatic coma[2]. In other words, a typical route of entry for ammonia is via inhalation (as well as ingestion, skin and eye contact). Therefore those individuals with existing conditions, such as corneal disease, glaucoma or chronic respiratory diseases may be at increased risk (ibid)[3].
Further, ammonia toxicity has been linked directly to residual chronic bronchitis, tracheitis, bronchopneumonia, pulmonary edema, kidney congestions and early hemorrhagic nephritis (ibid). |
SUBSTANCE
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DETAILS & EFFECTS
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Gases Ammonia compounds (produced during the decomposition of organic materials) cont |
Hyperammonemia or ammoniemia means the presence of ammonia or similar compounds in the blood. The symptoms of this condition are: weak pulse, subnormal temperature, gastroenteric conditions, and coma (Aviado 1976:54).
In pregnant does, exposure to high levels of ammonia resulted in postparturient maternal aggression (Gad, et al 2001:html document).
Elevated blood ammonia concentrations (even in human patients without acute liver failure [ALF] who experience idiopathic hyperammonemia) may be indicative of impending cerebral herniation (CH) in humans (Conn, H.O. 2001:html document). This is supported by Clemmesen, et al (2001:html document) who note that in patients with ALF high arterial ammonia concentrations (from the reduction of ammonia processing by the liver) are associated with increased cerebral ammonia uptake and CH.
Idiopathic means a disease of unknown cause (Stone 1976:689). In this public health issue idiopathic hyperammonemia might be sourced from high ammonia concentrations in the air, especially given the statement above in bolded text.
Hyperammonemia may produce cognitive disturbances in rats. Pre and neonatal hyperammonemia slowed learning and impaired memory. Postnatal hyperammonemia also impaired other learning tasks in rats (Aguilar, Mi~narro & Felipo 2001:html document). In rats, spatial learning is impaired after prenatal exposure to ammonia. As well, children with innate or inborn urea cycle enzyme errors suffer mental modifications proportional to the extent of hyperammonemia (Mu~noz, et al 2001:html document). Since high arterial ammonia concentrations have been linked with profound impacts on human health (cerebral herniation), then it is not unreasonable to query the possibility of learning disorders in children either.
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SUBSTANCE
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DETAILS & EFFECTS
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DustOrganic dust |
Can lead to Extrinsic Allergic Alveolitis – involving persistent episodes of fever, chills, dry cough and dyspnea. The chronic form of this disease may lead to honeycombing (Medical College of Wisconsin 2001:html document). Honeycomb lung can involve sarcoidosis, a systemic granulomatous fibrosis of the lungs that can also involve the lymph nodes, skin, liver, spleen, eyes (Freedman 1976:1252) and other organs. It can also involve pneumoconiosis, which is inflammation and fibrosis of the lungs, with symptoms of chest pain, cough, little or no expectoration, sometimes cyanosis (bluish or purplish skin and mucous membrane color), and fatigue after exertion (ibid:346,1109). Dyspnea registers as shortness of breath, distress in breathing, and “rapid breathing, usually associated with serious disease of the heart or lungs” (ibid:434). Mushroom worker’s lung is a type of extrinsic allergic alveolitis and is sourced from mushroom compost (Medical College of Wisconsin 2001:html document).
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2. AIR POLLUTION IMPACTS: BREATHING, SLEEP, RECREATION AND STUDY – STRESS, PSYCHOSOMATIC DYNAMICS AND DISEASE.
Residents have complained consistently over the years of the odor of the compost waking them at night. As well, outside recreational activities are often disturbed by the sharp and singularly unpleasant odor of the material. While families living around the facility are continuously stressed by this public health situation inside their own homes, yards and surrounding community areas, children at the Windsor High School have the added problem of the odor interrupting their studies. All these instances, impacting as they do so thoroughly on the total lives of so many people, provide the opportunity for stress-induced dynamics to play a significant if not major role in the diminishment of the quality of life and real health of the McGrath’s Hill community.
Where breathing, sleep patterns, recreational potential and high school study are negatively impacted by odors, serious psychosomatic and physiological consequences are inevitable. Human health (including the development of intellectual potential via high school) cannot be optimized in an environment where air quality imposes restraints on correct respiratory function, proper rest, the essential requirement of revitalizing recreational activities, and school studies.
Apart from the toxicological impacts of the gases and dusts produced by the compost materials, any form of minimized, shallow or labored breathing will decrease the oxygenation of the blood, leading to lower energy levels and even an increased predisposition toward the development of cancer. This is because cancer favors a deoxygenated physiological state, while increased fatigue leads to a compromised immune function, which again favors cancer.
As well, sleep deprivation leaves affected subjects with significantly reduced physical and emotional resources. Disturbed sleep leads to a diminished ability to function effectively, both physically and emotionally. This is why sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture in warfare and espionage activities. As well, this ‘tool’ is used, often, within religious cults in order to make victims more suggestible and compliant.
Specifically, tiredness makes the use of any equipment, be it a power tool or a motor vehicle, more hazardous. Therefore, what might have been otherwise a relatively harmless activity, such as home renovations or driving, becomes an extremely hazardous activity, one in which a single error of judgment, due to diminished mental acuity and physical coordination, can lead to serious injury or death.
The general reason for tiredness, decreased attention span, reduced coordination, diminished reflexes, and other less specific symptoms is the toxemia that accompanies interrupted sleep and decreased recreational outlets involving physical activity and associated deeper breathing. All individuals, subject to modest variations in their personal physiology, require uninterrupted sleep and physical exercise, both accompanied by proper respiration, in order for the liver to continuously and efficiently cleanse the body of toxins that accumulate, especially during the active hours.
Health impacts on local residents therefore take on 2 major perspectives:
a/ Toxemia, which is a major precursor of degenerative disease. I especially note this in terms of residents who are elderly. Any significant interruption to sleep patterns by the compost odors will necessarily promote the morbidity of any existing medical condition, because stress can leave the body unprotected (Davis 1976:107). Also, disturbed sleep favors the appearance of genetically predisposed conditions, even in the young, since toxins weaken the human immune system, as well as accumulate within organs to levels where permanent damage can eventuate.
b/ It is also now well known that unresolved frustration, anger and tension inflates the heart rate, increases adrenal and cortisone activity (and therefore the potential for adrenal exhaustion), and increases muscle tone (and therefore the potential for muscle pain and fatigue), all via the autonomous nervous system (Vayda 1991:47-48). This is often referred to as The Fight or Flight Reaction. As well, other symptoms and disorders are strongly associated with distress and anger (I note this because frustration and anger are dominant emotions expressed by residents near the source of the compost odors). Some of these more long-term disorders are:
q chronic indigestion;
q gastrogenic diarrhea;
q dilated stomach, false ‘palpitations’, difficulty in breathing, dizziness and fainting;
q paroxysmal tachycardia (heart racing);
q peptic ulcers;
q gall-stone colic;
q false pancreatic deficiency;
q habitual constipation;
q spasticity in the latter half of the colon and consequent gas retention;
q urinary bladder inflammation;
q acute and chronic diarrhea;
q ulcerative colitis;
q high blood pressure;
q arteriosclerosis;
q cerebral vascular accidents;
q over-active thyroid;
q diabetes;
q lumbago;
q rheumatism;
q gout (Simeons 1960).
This understanding has been around for decades (and in the case of the Chinese, millennia). These are the classic psychosomatic responses to emotional distress.
CONCLUSION
I therefore conclude here that air pollution from the mushroom compost is a major public health issue in the McGraths Hill area and adjacent communities from both toxicological and psychosomatic perspectives.
As an Environmental Health professional, I must recommend that the composting industry recognize its broader Public Health responsibilities and its Duty of Care regarding the community in which it is situated. The compost facilities should be professionally and extensively sealed and maintained thus, even in hot weather.
If these remedies are not possible, then the industry must be relocated to a more isolated area.
REFERENCES
Aguilar, M.A., Mi~narro, J. and Felipo, V. 2001 (html document), ‘Chronic moderate hyperammonemia impairs active and passive avoidance behavior and conditional discrimination learning in rats’ in Toxicology Data Network, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~BAAdUaa4R:4:BODY.
Aviado, D.M. (M.D.) 1976, 'Ammoniemia', in Stedman's Medical Dictionary, 23rd Edn, The Williams & Wilkins Company, Baltimore Md USA.
Clemmesen, J.O., Larsen, F.S., Kondrup, J., Hansen, B.A. and Ott, P. 2001 (html document), ‘Cerebral herniation in patients with acute liver failure is correlated with arterial ammonia concentrations’ in Toxicology Data Network, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~BAAdUaa4R:1:BODY.
Conn, H.O. 2001 (html document), ‘Hyperammonemia and intracranial hypertension: lying in wait for patients with hepatic disorders?’ in Toxicology Data Network, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~BAADVayzl:15:BODY.
Davis, A. 1976, Let’s Eat Right To Keep Fit, George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd, London UK.
Freedman, B.J. 1976, ‘Dyspnea’, in Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, 23rd Edn, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore/London.
Gad, H.A., El-Nasr, E.S., El-Naasan, A. and Mahmoud, M.A. 2001 (html document), ‘The effect of some environmental conditions on the pregnant does and its maternal behavior’ in Toxicology Data Network, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~BAADVayzl:9:BODY.
Medical College of Wisconsin 2001 (html document), Extrinsic allegic alveolitis, http://chorus.rad.mew.edu/doc/00999.html.
Ministry of Agriculture and Food 1998 (html document), Environmental Guidelines for Mushroom Producers, http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/resmgmt/fppa/pubs/environ/mushroom/mush04.htm.
Mu~noz, M., Romero-Vives, M., Insausti, R., Felipo, V. and Gaztelu, J.M. 2001 (html document), ‘Prenatal exposure of rats to ammonia impairs spatial learning, but not retention’ in Toxicology Data Network, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~BAADVayzl:6:BODY.
Rowland, A.J and Cooper, P. 1983, Environment and Health, Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd London.
Simeons, A.T.W. 1960, Man’s Presumptuous Brain, E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. New York, NY, USA.
Stone, D.B. 1976, ‘Idiopathic’, in Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, 23rd Edn, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore/London.
Toxicology Data Network 2001 (html document), Ammonia, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~BAAWmayPf:1:BASIC.
Vayda, W. 1994, Attack Asthma: How to conquer environmental illnesses and allergies without drugs, Thomas C. Lothian Pty. Ltd, Port Melbourne, Australia.
ENDNOTES
[i] I should preface my statement with the following. I possess qualifications in the broad discipline of Environmental Health. This works well in regard to this issue because, very often, non-specific acute and chronic symptoms relating to negative environmental impacts are characteristically treated with ignorance and often disdain by a medical profession more comfortable with a classical diagnoses of health complaints. Within the discipline of Environmental Health however, we learn to appreciate a much broader range and potential of threats to human health. My diverse studies over the past 25 years have served to make the association between generally unrecognized (or minimized) impacts and non-specific (though real) health dilemmas more recognizable and understandable.
I have broad-ranging experience in Human Health studies over the last 25 years. These include:
1. Personal study in cancer and other degenerative disease conditions, 1979 to present, including associated studies in Diet & Nutrition, Toxicology, Proteolytic Enzyme and Vitamin treatment, Herbal Medicinal Properties, Detoxification and Psychosomatic Medicine.
2. One year full-time study in Traditional Chinese Medicine (Brisbane College of Traditional Acupuncture in
Kelvin Grove, Brisbane), 1980-1981.3. Private study under Brian Liu, Traditional Acupuncturist (at his Concord clinic and in his class at the Burwood Evening College), 1986-1988.
4. I am a qualified Health Care Worker (Professional Business Colleges of Australia, Blacktown), 1993.
5. I have an Advanced Certificate in Farm Technology with Distinction (Richmond College of TAFE), 1994.
6. I have a Bachelor of Applied Science (Environmental Health) with Distinction, 1998 (University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury), which Degree included studies in Occupational Health & Safety and Toxicology. I graduated top of my Degree, being awarded the Australian Institute of Environmental Health (NSW) Division Prize for Best Overall Graduating Student. Environmental Health is officially considered to be a subset of Public Health.
7. I have produced a major study (for my Degree) on pollution impacts, including a contribution to a weed eradication strategy, weed identification and mapping for Yarramundi Lagoon (Western Sydney) for John Cauchi, Director of the Penrith Catchment Centre.
8. I have First Class Honors in Social Ecology, 1999 (UWS-Hawkesbury). My 340 page thesis included studies in: Philosophy; Heuristics and other learning theory; Feminist Theory; Psychology; Fascism; Ethics; Psychosomatic Medicine; Chemical Safety; Chemical Leaching from the Castlereagh Waste Management Centre; Genetically Modified Food; Nuclear, sub-Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Weapons; Toxicology and Meteorology.
9. I am currently doing a PhD fulltime in Social Ecology at UWS-Hawkesbury, producing a thesis on similar subjects to those listed immediately above, and have just completed a year as a tutor in 2 subjects at the UWS-Nepean, those being: Design Issues 1B – Ecology for Designers and Environmental Planning 1 – Material Ecologies in the Degree program of Bachelor of Industrial Design, School of Civic Engineering & Environment.
10. I am a financial member of the Australian Institute of Environmental Health (NSW Division) headquartered at Birkenhead Point, Drummoyne
11. I am a self-published author. My 2 main titles are:
·
Science As Religion: The Great Inductivist Error, ã 1995, 24 pages, ISBN 0 646 245546.·
Global Toxicity: Chemicals – A Worldwide Nightmare (Highlighting the Castlereagh Waste Management Centre and its Impact on Londonderry, Sydney), ã 1998, 161 pages, ISBN 0 646 238019.As well, I have contributed many articles on the subjects of religion and cultism to numerous overseas and Australian newsletters and magazines.
12. I have also authored the bulk of the February 1998 RAGE (Residents’ Action Group for the Environment) Hawkesbury-Nepean Newsletter and contributed articles to other issues.
13.
I was formerly a professional artist by trade specializing in Photorealism and Impressionism.
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© Copyright 2005 Murray Thompson dreedlegilf@yahoo.com
Postal Address:PO Box 5761
South Windsor LPO
NSW 2756
Australia