Antibiotic Inhibition on Anaerobic Digestion of Animal Manure and Controlling Strategies: A Short Review

Abstract

Despite the efficacy of anaerobic digestion (AD) in stabilizing animal wastes as well as alleviating global warming associated with natural decomposition of animal manure, the process is susceptible to antibiotics that commonly exist in animal manure. Although antibiotics have served veterinary purposes in large quantities for decades, knowledge concerning their impacts on methane production during AD of animal manure is still in its infancy. Antibiotics used in animal practice are recognized as one of the major contributors to the development of resistant pathogens. Their fate and long‐term environmental impacts following land application or disposal of the animal manure into the aquatic environment, with resistance development and associated risks on human health as the primary focus, are well reviewed in many previous publications. To date, to the best of our knowledge, few efforts are made on reviewing the impacts of antibiotics on AD of animal manure and the mitigation strategies. In this review, detailed summaries of earlier and recent works conducted on the inhibition of antibiotics on AD of animal manure are presented, with special interest directed toward available and new controlling strategies in terms of technical and regulatory aspects. Finally, in view of process balance and successive operation, further research should be carried out to gain insight into dynamic interactions of antibiotics and other commonly seen coexistent inhibitors/intermediates in the AD systems.

Eubacterium coprostanoligenes and Methanoculleus identified as potential producers of metabolites that contribute to swine manure foaming

“…This phenomenon may be explained by the greater quantity of undigested organic matter in the manure (Benjamin & Weelden, 2014), which serves as a nutrient source for methanogens. The abundance of methanogens may also be by other factors, like manure depth (Barret et al, 2013), amount of VFAs (Gorris et al, 1989), competition from other microbes (Shaw et al, 2019), the presence of antibiotics (Yang et al, 2019), or whether residual manure remains after emptying the manure pits (Habtewold et al, 2018). This study's results are consistent with the idea that high amounts of VFAs, specifically butyric acid, isobutyric acid, and acetic acid, indicate low level of acetotrophic methanogenesis in non-foaming manure samples.…”

A review of Brazilian agro-industrial pig farming systems: environmental impacts and applied anaerobic digestion processes with mineral additives

“…Sulfonamides are the most used type of antibiotics in the pig industry, especially sulfadiazine (SDZ), with concentrations in the order of 91-235 mg / L found in pig manure according to Yang et al (2019). In one study carried out by Huang et al (2019), 5.0 g / L of ZVI significantly optimized the acidification process, enriching the bacteria Clostridia and Bacteroidia, which are mainly responsible for producing VFA and H2, providing greater substrate availability for methanogenesis.…”

Nutritional, Energy and Sanitary Aspects of Swine Manure and Carcass Co-digestion

“…Antibiotics are used in therapeutic or sub-therapeutic doses on animal farms, including swine farms, to prevent infections and treat disease (Yang et al, 2019). Spielmeyer (2018) reported that was possible to recover from <5 to 90%, depending on the antibiotic class, of the active substances in waste excreted by the animals because these compounds may not be completely metabolized.…”