Georgia's natural resources have been dramatically impacted by the poultry industry. Each year, Georgia's poultry housesp roduce thousands of tons of poultry litter rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. This litter also contains other harmful constituents including potassium, calcium, copper, arsenic, lead, antibiotics, hormones, and more.
Congressional sources estimate that just one poultry house produces as much phosphorus as does the sewage from a community of 6,000 people. According to these estimates, Georgia's 6,700 poultry houses produce the same amount of phosphorus as the sewage generated by 40 million people - over five times the entire population of the state of Georgia.
Georgia's broilers also produce 60 million pounds of nitrogen per year. While the nitrogen and phosphorus contained in poultry litter can serve as fertilizer, in excess quantities it pollutes water and air. When nitrogen and phosphorus get into the wrong places at high concentra-tions, they stimulate algal growth which robs the water of oxygen. Low oxygen levels can kill fish and otheer aquatic life. Nitrates can also contaminate the wells that provide drinking water; high levels of nitrates are dangerous to humans, especially pregnant women and babies, and are associated with a number of public health concerns such as miscarriage and "blue baby syndrome" (a disease affecting the blood's ability to absorb oxygen). The build-up of excess nutrients has also been associated with a public health crisis: Pfisteria piscicida (pronounced 'fis-teer-ia'), the so-called "cell from hell," which has been linked to human health problems. |
