Atmospheric Ammonia, Volatile Fatty Acids, and Other Odorants near Beef Feedlots

Abstract

Intensive livestock operations can release odorous gases from stored or land-applied manure. We measured concentrations of dust and 14 odor-causing gases at increasing distances from four feedlots near Lethbridge, southern Alberta, Canada. Concentration was determined from the amount of total dust or gas accumulated in the sampIers, and the volume of air sampled. Adjacent the feedlots, the maximum concentration of many volatile fatty acids exceeded reported odor detection thresholds; the maximum ammonia concentration was close to the threshold. Ammonia and butyric acid approached or exceeded their individual odor thresholds as far as 200 m downwind of the feedlots. Highest concentrations were measured adjacent to land where manure was being applied. None of the odorant concentrations exceeded their irritation threshold. There was a positive relationship between ammonia concentration and odor intensity as well as dry deposition. Much of the emitted ammonia was deposited to soil immediately downwind, enough to supply all the nitrogen needed for crop growth. Odorant concentrations declined sharply with distance, though measurable odor occasionally persisted to 1 km from the feedlot, beyond the minimum separation guidelines (Alberta) for a single residential dwelling. The weekly averaged total suspended particulates (> 5 microm) were below the Alberta guideline criterion except for one period. Differences among feedlots in odorant plume concentrations were partly related to the stocking density of feedlots, which presumably affects manure moisture and amount of volatiles within the pens.

Speciation of volatile organic compounds from poultry production

“…However, it should be noted that peak concentrations, 1936.7 mg m À3 , were well below NIOSH recommended eight hour exposure levels of 25,000 mg m À3 (NIOSH, 2005). However, average concentrations of acetic acid reported in this study were well above what has been reported for other animal groups (Zahn et al, 1997(Zahn et al, , 2001McGinn et al, 2003;Ngwabie et al, 2008). Currently most studies on workers occupational health risks from poultry facilities have focused exclusively on inhalation of dust or bioaerosols, but this study would suggest that some attention should also be paid to the role VOCs may play on worker respiratory health.…”

“…In terms of VOC speciation, it was not surprising that alcohols, ketones, and VFAs were the most abundant chemical classes since these compounds have been shown to be abundant with other animal groups (Zahn et al, 2001;McGinn et al, 2003;Blunden et al, 2005;Filipy et al, 2006;Ngwabie et al, 2008) and previous studies with poultry litter/manure have also reported the significance of these chemical classes (Smith et al, 1977;Yasuhara, 1987). Odor studies from poultry litter/manure have reported the significance of both 2,3-butanedione, 3-hydroxyl-2-butanone and carboxylic acids (Burnett, 1969;Cai et al, 2007).…”

Tropospheric sources and sinks of gas-phase acids in the Colorado Front Range

“…Agricultural activity is another primary emission source of alkanoic acids (McGinn et al, 2003;Paulot et al, 2011), and may have contributed to the observed alkanoic acid mixing ratios. NH 3 in the Colorado Front Range comes primarily from agricultural sources (Tevlin et al, 2017).…”

The role of composting in recycling manure nutrients

“…Another contentious issue with fresh manure is odour emissions during land application (McGinn et al 2003). One of the benefits most often espoused for land application of compost, compared with fresh manure, is that it is virtually odourless.…”