Are human symptoms and Zebra dove behaviors temporally related to odor perception in a newly industrialized region of Southern Thailand? A time-series study

Abstract

Odor emission from a large gas separation plant in Songkhla, Thailand, has been claimed by local residents to disturb their health and to have adverse effects on their Zebra doves, which are reared for cooing competition and commerce, although there is no proof that odor emission is the real cause. This study was designed to verify if any association exists among odor perception, human health symptoms, and Zebra dove behaviors. Data were collected from daily reports of three resident groups including odor perception (n = 40), human health symptoms (n = 40), and Zebra dove behaviors (n = 39). Enrolled subjects comprised residents of location-matched triplets comprising one individual of each group. Mixed-effects random-intercept regression analyses among these measures over time (90 days) within triplet showed that lag 0–lag 3 gas odor was significantly positively associated with reported atypical Zebra dove behaviors (OR range: 1.84–3.85). On the other hand, oil, rotting food, and sulfide odor were significantly associated with reported human health symptoms (OR range: 1.83–13.80). The claims of adverse effect of gas odor on the health and behavior of residents’ doves and that of oil odor on human health are supported, although, evidence is lacking on the definitive sources of these odors.

Keywords:

• gas separation plant
• odor perception
• Zebra dove behaviors
• health symptoms
• time-series

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their appreciation all participants in five subdistricts of Chana district, Songkhla province, for their help recording and collecting data. Special thanks are extended to Chana Power Plant for ambient air quality and meteorological data. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand (document number 55-240-18-5-3). The authors are grateful to all staff of the Office of Disease Prevention and Control 12 Songkhla (DPC12), the Epidemiology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, and the Primary Care Unit in Chana district for support and collaboration.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Office of Prevention and Control Disease Region 12 Songkhla (DPC12), Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, and the Epidemiology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, and the Graduate School, Prince of Songkla University.