Effects of livestock and poultry breeding pollution on health risks: Evidence from a hog breeding case in rural China

Abstract With the rapid development of livestock and poultry breeding industries, pollution problems caused by the discharge of wastewater and manure have become increasingly severe. However, studies on the impacts of this pollution on rural residents’ health are lacking. Based on data from the Peking University's China Family Panel Studies in 2010 and 2014, this paper uses a cross-sectional and panel data probit model to estimate the probability of breeding industry development in rural areas increasing the health risks of local villagers. First, the study found that the more households engaged in breeding in the region or the larger the scale of regional breeding, the higher the health risks to local villagers, particularly in areas where pigs are raised. Second, compared with individual farming, the greater the proportion of large-scale farming, the higher the health risks to villagers. Third, the development of the breeding industry seldom includes the ecological recycling of wastes and fails to reduce the use of local pesticides and fertilizers, thereby increasing the health risks to villagers. Therefore, this paper argues that providing technology to process breeding industry waste and establish an organic industrial production chain will be crucial to reducing the impact of breeding industry pollution on human health.