Health risk in livestock farming reconsidered

The additional research on the report 'Livestock farming and health of local residents' is probably not yet a reason to refuse environmental permits. 

On 16 June 2017, the State Secretary for Economic Affairs presented the report 'Livestock farming and health of local residents (additional studies): analysis of health effects, risk factors and emissions of bio-aerosols' to the House of Representatives. What does it contain and what does the additional research mean?

poultry farms
The report confirms the conclusion of the previous report 'Livestock and Health of Local Residents' (see my blogs from July 7, 2016 en June 1, 2017) that people living around poultry farms have a higher risk of contracting pneumonia. According to the researchers, there are strong indications that particulate matter and its components make people more susceptible to respiratory infections. However, specific pathogens originating from animals are not excluded.

Goat Farms
The report also shows that people around goat farms also have a greater chance of contracting pneumonia. Until 2011, the Q fever epidemic probably influenced this. The increased risk from 2011 cannot yet be explained. "Given the uncertainties surrounding the causes of the increased risk of pneumonia around goat farms, more research is first needed in and around goat farms into the prevention, composition, emission and distribution of (bio) aerosols and particulate matter, before targeted company measures are taken. advice," the researchers said.

COPD
Furthermore, the study confirms the earlier conclusion that people with COPD who live near livestock farms have more frequent and more severe complaints than people who live further away from livestock farms. Air measurements in the residential environment show that the concentration of endotoxins (small parts of micro-organisms that can cause respiratory irritation and inflammatory reactions) in the air increases as the distance from a livestock farm becomes smaller or the number of livestock farms in an area (the density) increases.

Environmental law framework
The State Secretary calls on administrative bodies to "take these worrying signals into account when taking decisions in the field of spatial planning and, as far as possible, when making decisions about the granting of permits". As far as I am concerned, administrative bodies are bound by the current environmental law framework. I have set out that framework in my article 'Health risks of livestock farms'. It is also important that in many areas it is not yet possible to speak of generally accepted scientific insights.

Knowledge gaps
The further research results that have now become known also refer to various knowledge gaps and (once again) recommend further research. I do not expect that the Council of State will 'deal with' on the basis of these additional studies and see, for example, a reason for a refusal of an environmental permit (compare my blogs from October 17, 2016 en October 18, 2016 on the case law of the Council of State on the VGO report). This may of course change in the future, if new insights become known.

Paul Bodden

Paul Bodden is a lawyer at Hekkelman. He focuses on providing legal aid. He also wrote a preliminary recommendation for the Association for Agrarian Law and is a member of the editorial board of the Tijdschrift voor Agrarisch Recht.

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