Evaluation of poultry litter traditional composting process

Sanchuki, Carlos Eduardo; Soccol, Carlos Ricardo; Carvalho, Júlio César de; Soccol, Vanete Thomaz; Nascimento, Camila do; Woiciechowski, Adenise Lorenci

doi:10.1590/s1516-89132011000500024

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Chicken litter is the waste generated in the largest quantities in the process [2]. Chicken litter is a mixture of chicken feces, feathers, bedding materials and spilt feeds, drugs, and water [3]. In 2008, Brazil alone, which is the world’s largest exporter of broiler meat, generated 11 billion kilograms of chicken litter [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Safe is Chicken Litter for Land Application as an Organic Fertilizer? A Review

Kyakuwaire

Olupot

Amoding

et al. 2019

IJERPH

103

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Chicken litter application on land as an organic fertilizer is the cheapest and most environmentally safe method of disposing of the volume generated from the rapidly expanding poultry industry worldwide. However, little is known about the safety of chicken litter for land application and general release into the environment. Bridging this knowledge gap is crucial for maximizing the benefits of chicken litter as an organic fertilizer and mitigating negative impacts on human and environmental health. The key safety concerns of chicken litter are its contamination with pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, helminthes, parasitic protozoa, and viruses; antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant genes; growth hormones such as egg and meat boosters; heavy metals; and pesticides. Despite the paucity of literature about chicken litter safety for land application, the existing information was scattered and disjointed in various sources, thus making them not easily accessible and difficult to interpret. We consolidated scattered pieces of information about known contaminants found in chicken litter that are of potential risk to human, animal, and environmental health and how they are spread. This review tested the hypothesis that in its current form, chicken litter does not meet the minimum standards for application as organic fertilizer. The review entails a meta-analysis of technical reports, conference proceedings, peer-reviewed journal articles, and internet texts. Our findings indicate that direct land application of chicken litter could be harming animal, human, and environmental health. For example, counts of pathogenic strains of Eschericia coli (105–1010 CFU g−1) and Coliform bacteria (106–108 CFU g−1) exceeded the maximum permissible limits (MPLs) for land application. In Australia, 100% of broiler litter tested was contaminated with Actinobacillus and re-used broiler litter was more contaminated with Salmonella than non-re-used broiler litter. Similarly, in the US, all (100%) broiler litter was contaminated with Eschericia coli containing genes resistant to over seven antibiotics, particularly amoxicillin, ceftiofur, tetracycline, and sulfonamide. Chicken litter is also contaminated with a vast array of antibiotics and heavy metals. There are no standards set specifically for chicken litter for most of its known contaminants. Even where standards exist for related products such as compost, there is wide variation across countries and bodies mandated to set standards for safe disposal of organic wastes. More rigorous studies are needed to ascertain the level of contamination in chicken litter from both broilers and layers, especially in developing countries where there is hardly any data; set standards for all the contaminants; and standardize these standards across all agencies, for safe disposal of chicken litter on land.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Safe is Chicken Litter for Land Application as an Organic Fertilizer? A Review

Kyakuwaire

Olupot

Amoding

et al. 2019

IJERPH

103

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“…As broiler beds have become organic fertilizers that are used by farmers throughout the world [ 1 , 19 , 23 , 24 , 25 ], they pose a serious risk to public health because these fertilizers are one of the main routes that allow for the spillover of antimicrobials in the environment [ 26 ]. Furthermore, this practice also spreads bacteria that are already resistant to antimicrobials, as well as antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements that may carry resistance genes over, such as plasmids and integrons [ 24 , 27 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of Chlortetracycline Residues, Antimicrobial Activity and Presence of Resistance Genes in Droppings of Experimentally Treated Broiler Chickens

et al. 2018

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Tetracyclines are important antimicrobial drugs for poultry farming that are actively excreted via feces and urine. Droppings are one of the main components in broiler bedding, which is commonly used as an organic fertilizer. Therefore, bedding becomes an unintended carrier of antimicrobial residues into the environment and may pose a highly significant threat to public health. For this depletion study, 60 broiler chickens were treated with 20% chlortetracycline (CTC) under therapeutic conditions. Concentrations of CTC and 4-epi-CTC were then determined in their droppings. Additionally, this work also aimed to detect the antimicrobial activity of these droppings and the phenotypic susceptibility to tetracycline in E. coli isolates, as well as the presence of tet(A), tet(B), and tet(G) resistance genes. CTC and 4-epi-CTC concentrations that were found ranged from 179.5 to 665.8 µg/kg. Based on these data, the depletion time for chicken droppings was calculated and set at 69 days. All samples presented antimicrobial activity, and a resistance to tetracyclines was found in bacterial strains that were isolated from these samples. Resistance genes tet(A) and tet(B) were also found in these samples.

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“…Another widely common use is as organic fertilizers [28,29,30], thus broiler litter has also become one of the main routes for entry of antimicrobials and resistance genes into the environment [31,32,33,34]. These findings are highly significant in light of the estimated 11 and 14 million tonnes of litter reported by big poultry producers, such as Brazil and the United States of America, respectively—usually recycled to use it as organic fertilizers [23,35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Three Antimicrobial Residue Concentrations in Broiler Chicken Droppings as a Potential Risk Factor for Public Health and Environment

Yévenes

Pokrant

Pérez

et al. 2018

IJERPH

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Tetracyclines, sulfonamides and amphenicols are broad spectrum antimicrobial drugs that are widely used in poultry farming. However, a high proportion of these drugs can be excreted at high concentrations in droppings, even after the end of a therapy course. This work intended to assess and compare concentrations of florfenicol (FF), florfenicol amine (FFa), chlortetracycline (CTC), 4-epi-chlortetracycline (4-epi-CTC), and sulfachloropyridazine (SCP) in broiler chicken droppings. To this end, 70 chickens were housed under controlled environmental conditions, and assigned to experimental groups that were treated with therapeutic doses of either 10% FF, 20% CTC, or 10% SCP. Consequently, we implemented and designed an in-house validation for three analytical methodologies, which allowed us to quantify the concentrations of these three antimicrobial drugs using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Our results showed that FF and FFa concentrations were detected in chicken droppings up to day 10 after ceasing treatment, while CTC and 4-epi-CTC were detected up to day 25. As for SCP residues, these were detected up to day 21. Noticeably, CTC showed the longest excretion period, as well as the highest concentrations detected after the end of its administration using therapeutic doses.

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Evaluation of poultry litter traditional composting process

Cited by 13 publications

References 7 publications

How Safe is Chicken Litter for Land Application as an Organic Fertilizer? A Review

How Safe is Chicken Litter for Land Application as an Organic Fertilizer? A Review

Determination of Chlortetracycline Residues, Antimicrobial Activity and Presence of Resistance Genes in Droppings of Experimentally Treated Broiler Chickens

Assessment of Three Antimicrobial Residue Concentrations in Broiler Chicken Droppings as a Potential Risk Factor for Public Health and Environment

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