Estrogen Transport in Surface Runoff from Agricultural Fields Treated with Two Application Methods of Dairy Manure

Abstract

This study compares two methods of dairy manure applicationsurface broadcast and shallow disk injection-on the fate and transport of natural estrogens in surface runoff from 12 field plots in central Pennsylvania. Ten natural surface runoff events were sampled over a 9-mo period after fall manure application. Results show that the range of estrogen concentrations observed in surface runoff from the broadcast plots was several orders of magnitude higher (>5000 ng L −1 ) than the concentrations in runoff from the shallow disk injection plots (<10 ng L −1 ). Additionally, the transport dynamics differed, with the majority of the estrogen loads from the surface broadcast plots occurring during the first rainfall event after application, whereas the majority of the loads from the shallow disk injection plots occurred more than 6 mo later during a hail storm event. Total estrogen loads were, on average, two orders of magnitude lower for shallow disk injection compared with surface broadcast. Independent of the method of manure application, 17a-estradiol and estrone were preserved in the field for as long as 9 mo after application. Overall, injection of manure shows promise in reducing the potential for off-site losses of hormones from manure-amended soils. Estrogen Transport in Surface Runoff from Agricultural Fields Treated with Two Application Methods of Dairy ManureOdette Mina, Heather E. Gall,* Louis S. Saporito, and Peter J.A. Kleinman L ivestock production is increasingly tied to water quality concerns, in part due to the management of manure on farms. In a National Water Quality Inventory, the USEPA assessed approximately 33% of US waters. Of the assessed waters, runoff from agricultural lands was reported as a primary source of impairment for approximately 40% of streams, 45% of lakes, and 50% of estuaries (USEPA, 2000). In the United States, farm animals produce over 300 million t of manure each year, with the manure often applied to agricultural fields as a nutrient source (USDA, 2008). Reuse is known to contribute to water quality concerns, including transport of estrogens to the aquatic environment. On an annual basis, land application of manure is estimated to introduce more than 200 times the mass of estrogens introduced from biosolids applications (Lange et al., 2002;USEPA, 1999). Various studies have reported estrogens in surface runoff and tile drainage after land application of manure (Dutta et al., 2010(Dutta et al., , 2012Finlay-Moore et al., 2000;Gadd et al., 2010;Gall et al., 2015;Kjaer et al., 2007;Shappell et al., 2016;Snow et al., 2015), with some concentrations exceeding the lowest observable effect levels (LOELs) for fish and other aquatic organisms (Leet et al., 2011;Shull and Pulket, 2015).Soil physical properties of the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States, typically shallow and stony, have limited the adoption of newer methods of manure application and the use of deeper injection tools due to severe soil disturbance, horsepower requirements, and the increase in frequency o...

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“…Overall, the temporal dynamics of the results of this and other field studies suggest that contaminants applied beneath the soil surface (e.g., shallow disk injection of manure and neonicotinoid‐coated seeds) can persist for long periods of time following application, albeit at reduced concentrations relative to losses in surface transport (Mina et al., 2016). This is especially true for clothianidin because these field measurements suggest that the parent compound (thiamethoxam) may transfer to the surface soils and be vulnerable during surface runoff, whereas the metabolite (clothianidin) is far more vulnerable to persistent subsurface loss (Figures 1 and 2).…”

“…The largest flow events at our sites occurred in the winter of 2018, with these snowmelt and freeze–thaw events contributing to ∼62 and 20% of the subsurface and surface transport of clothianidin, respectively. No first‐flush effects of clothianidin were observed, making transport of the metabolite similar to the transport dynamics of estrogens from plots that had received manure via subsurface injection, when approximately 70% of estrogens transported from shallow disk–injected plots occurred during a winter hail event (Mina, Gall, Saporito, & Kleinman, 2016). The importance of snowmelt transport of neonicotinoids from agricultural areas has also been observed in Canada (Main et al., 2016).…”

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“…Research on the presence and transport of hormones present in reclaimed water and manure have had a relatively long publication record in JEQ, with papers spanning from 2005 to the present. Research published in JEQ found several effective strategies to reduce the transport of manure-borne hormones from agricultural fields, including composting poultry manure prior to land application (Hakk et al, 2005) (Figure 2), pelletizing poultry litter prior to application (Dutta et al, 2010), and land-applying dairy manure via subsurface injection rather than surface broadcasting (Mina et al, 2016).…”

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“…Fisher et al (2016) demonstrated that incorporating raw poultry litter into agricultural soil via subsurface injection reduced concentrations of estrogens (in this case E1) in runoff by as much as 84%. More recently, Mina et al (2016) observed that the range of estrogen concentrations in surface runoff from field plots receiving surface‐broadcast dairy manure were several orders of magnitude higher than plots receiving manure via shallow disk injection. These and other studies (Dutta et al, 2010, 2012) examined estrogens/estrogenicity in runoff occurring over many months and multiple rain events (simulated or otherwise) after manure application but always preserved water samples immediately on collection.…”