Curious about an odor.....

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by GetmeoutofAR

As someone who has lived in NW Arkansas their entire life, I can tell you that you should stay at least 2 miles from any poultry farm unless you are upwind from one. The smells, and harmful bacteria tend to float downward. If you purchase a home in NW Arkansas, look up on satelitte to see if there are hidden chicken houses in the vicinity that you wouldn't have known were there otherwise. Wind in NW Arakansas is predominately from the West/southwest so keep this in mind.... As far as health risks go, some people beleive that living near poultry farms increases incidences of cancer...Especially in Prairie Grove where some people beleive there is a cancer cluster. Just be careful is my best advice.....

The whole problem with the PG cancer cluster is that they were arguing it was arsenic in the litter that was spread in cow pastures that was said to tbe culprit. The only problem with that is, as I remember, there's no real mechanism known for arsenic to cause cancer. This is all from memory so I may be wrong so there's my disclaimer. I'm not saying there are no increased risks of anything from living near a chicken farm but that no one's successfully argued it in court for monetary gain as of yet.

There are no wood processing plants in that area that I'm aware of unless they are new.

I would bet ANYTHING it is a chicken farm. The local you asked doesn't notice it anymore probably! You CAN smell them in the winter during the times of day you mentioned. I can distinctly remember when one went in near where I grew up smelling it in the winter time. The odor is not as pervasive in the winter, it has a somewhat subdued "quality".

I'm certainly not discounting the meth lab thought though...

Most of the city if Fayetteville proper has very few issues with chicken farm odor. If it's going to be something you want to stay away from, you'd be better off purchasing well within the city limits.

[DC at the Ridge]

What plants/industries are near you? When I lived near the Glad plant in Rogers I used to smell a funny chemical odor sometimes. And if you have warehouses nearby, it could be something being stored. As for the question of how prevalent the chicken smell is, I've lived all over Northwest Arkansas, as have my parents, and none of our homes was ever located where we could smell a chicken house. But the office where I work is located near a chicken processing plant, and every day when I go to my car I get to smell fried chicken or oriental chicken or barbecue chicken depending on what production run they are doing that day. It doesn't stink, but it does get old.

DC

[Capt. Dan]

if it smells like cooking cabbage its probably a paqper mill. If it smells like an outhouse, well, thats Bubba.He only bathes on days that dont have a "y" in them!

[Capt. Dan]

Welcome To Arkansas!!!!

[Caoimhín P. Connell]

Hello Folks -

I’m a little late chiming in on this one, but I wanted to correct a myth repeated by the poster called “Sam I am.”

Methamphetamine does NOT have an odor of ammonia.

Methlabs don’t necessarily have an odor of ammonia. Methlabs don’t necessarily have an odor of cat-pee. In fact, methlabs don’t necessarily have ANY odor at all. I have assessed many labs wherein there are no particular odor at all.

I conducted a SWAT raid on one house wherein once we breached the door, we found a perfectly clean, orderly, well kempt house. We started to worry that we had bad intel or we kicked in the wrong door! (Law suit city!) Eventually we found the lab tucked away in the basement. In that case, because of my SCBA (respirator), I could not smell anything.

If you are interested in methlabs, and their detection, you may find the following discussion (and photos) of interest. These are photos that I have taken from a variety of methlabs.

Recognizing a Methlab

Cheers!
Caoimhín P. Connell
Forensic Industrial Hygienist

(The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.)

AMDG

[Sam I Am]

Gee, isn't that strange - the government thinks it does. Not exactly like household ammonia, but it is very, very strong.

http://www.oehha.ca.gov/public_info/...39;03'.pdf

I used to be a cop - I halfway have a clue.

Meth doesn't have the odor of ammonia, but COOKING it does. Not all the time, but geez, let's just get ticky here. And if you have on a respirator you won't smell anything for sure.

[TaJasMi]

Originally Posted by Southernkomfort27

Northwest Arkansas is at the top of my list of possible places to relocate, but I'm a little concerned about what has been mentioned about chicken odors. How bad is this, and is this prevalent in all of NWA? Are some areas worse than others? Does anyone know what health risk are associated with living in an area of chicken odor? I am assuming that it can't be all that bad, because so many people have good things to say about the area, but still, I would appreciate some information.

Oh its fine....I was born there...I was raised there(Springdale).I never smelled anything bad...except in a small area in Fay. where it smelled like toilet water...but I moved up to Seattle and it smells like dead fish all the time so dont worry about things like this. I promise it is fine.

[Caoimhín P. Connell]

Hello “Sam I am:”

Nothing personal, but actually, no – meth doesn’t smell like ammonia – ever. And I don’t know of any government agencies who think it does. Your PDF link was not for meth, it was for ammonia, and I certainly agree with the flier that ammonia smells like ammonia. Nowhere on the flier does it say that meth smell like ammonia; you should take a moment and read the flier.

Also, cooking meth doesn’t always smell like ammonia either. It depends on the method used, and many of the more common methods don’t smell like ammonia at all since they don't use amonia. In fact, depending on where one is in the country, one may NEVER encounter a single methlab that is an anhydrous methlab.

I am pleased to hear you used to be a cop, so I will hold a brother to an higher standard since I currently am a cop, and I am also certified by the Office of National Drug Control Policy High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Clandestine Drug Lab Safety Program, and a current member of the Colorado Drug Investigators Association, and the American Industrial Hygiene Association. I am also a Certified Meth-Lab Safety Instructor through the Colorado Regional Community Policing Institute (Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Justice).

I have put on law enforcement training for hundreds of law enforcement personnel and other authorized personnel over the years and I have personally made meth using a variety of methodsincluding the ammonia method.

I am also one of the primary authors for how to assess methlabs in Colorado’s new methlab regulations, and I am the sole assembler of a new proposed ASTM International standard on clan-lab assessments.

If you would like to see my Statement of Qualificaitons, you may find it at:
http://www.forensic-applications.com/meth/SOQ.pdf

I assure you methamphetamine does not smell like ammonia, and unless the bad guy is using the ammonia method, neither does cooking meth, and even if the bad guy IS using the ammonia method, the odor dissipates very quickly.

In general, methlabs don't smell like ammonia. Those are just the facts. The overwhelming majority of houses contaminated with meth won't smell like ammonia.

Cheers!
Caoimhín P. Connell
Forever Blue

(The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.)

AMDG

[Sam I Am]

Oops, sorry, wrong link...but I won't debate meth with you here, wrong forum.