Association between exposure to emissions from the oil and gas industry and pathology of the immune, nervous, and respiratory systems, and skeletal and cardiac muscle in beef calves.

To determine potential associations between emissions from oil and gas field facilities and the risk of lesions in the immune, nervous, and respiratory systems of beef calves, researchers examined tissue samples collected from 1,531 cases with exposure data, which included aborted fetuses, stillbirths, and calf mortalities from 203 cow-calf herds, by means of histopathology. The researchers prospectively measured exposure to sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and volatile organic compounds by using air-monitoring data from passive monitors. They used the density of facilities surrounding each pasture as a second measure of exposure. Each tissue was classified by the presence or absence of a series of specified lesions, including those associated with degeneration, necrosis, infection, inflammation, anomaly, lympholysis (for lymphoid tissue), and proliferation (for the respiratory system). Exposure was not associated with the risk of lesions to tissues of either the immune or nervous system in calves that were aborted or died in spring 2002. Exposures to sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide were not significantly associated with the risk of lesions to respiratory tissues in calves that were born alive in spring 2002. Increasing postnatal exposures to volatile organic compounds measured as benzene and toluene were associated with increased odds of respiratory lesions. The association between volatile organic compounds measured as benzene and respiratory lesions was significant for calves older than 3 weeks. During gestation, increasing exposure to sulfur dioxide was associated with increased odds of lesions in either the skeletal muscle or myocardium.