Although the animals directly victimized by animal agriculture are the ones being slaughtered and used for their bodies and products, the humans that live in areas around factory farms also suffer because of the poor environmental effects they have. Livestock in the U.S. produce approximately 500 million tons of fecal waste and urine every year which is way much more waste than factory farms could ever redistribute as fertilizer, so the majority of waste is left to sit and fester in massive, open-air lagoons adjacent to the farms. When these cesspools of feces and urine get full, factory farms will frequently avoid water pollution limits by spraying liquid manure into the air, which creates mists of pollutants carried away by the wind. This comes at a low cost to the industry, but a high one to the environment and local residents. Living with the putrid smell and harmful gases released by factory farm waste can ruin the health of a person and quality of life. Mental health deterioration and increased sensitization to smells can occur in people who live near factory farms according to studies. Unfortunately, many communities located near factory farms fall below the poverty level so the families living there do not have the option to relocate to a place with cleaner air, and instead fall victim to the pollutants.
A dangerous problem that comes along with storing excrement in massive lagoons is that the waste breaks down and forms ammonia gas which is released into the atmosphere. This then breeds bacteria, which combines with other pollutants in the air to form later dangerous nitric acid. When nitric acid builds up in the atmosphere, it then returns to the surface of the earth as acid rain, which harms soil, forest habitats, and water ecosystems. People also tend to suffer from respiratory irritation, bronchitis, lung inflammation, dust toxic syndrome, asthma, and even cardiac arrest if the pollution from local factory farms is bad enough. Ammonia emissions from waste pools can cause a variety of harmful health effects including dizziness, eye irritation, respiratory illness, and nausea. Releases of dangerous levels of hydrogen sulfide, another dangerous gas released from factory farmed animals, can cause sore throats, seizures, comas, and even death in rare cases. Asthma can also be a real concern, especially for younger children living near these farms. Children raised in communities near factory farms are more likely to develop asthma or bronchitis than children who are not directly impacted by the pollution in the air and water surrounding factory farms. Sadly, the unsanitary conditions on factory farms, poor quality of animal feed, and overuse of antibiotics in livestock have resulted in diseases including swine and avian flu that are spread by air and difficult to manage. Factory farms not only torment and kill millions of animals each year, they impact the health of the people living near them.