Livestock Ammonia Management and Particulate-Related Health Benefits

Abstract

Agricultural operations are the largest source of ammonia emissions in the United States and contribute to the formation of ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate, two prevalent forms of fine particulate matter. Researchers have found an association between fine particulate matter and a variety of adverse healths effects, including premature mortality, chronic bronchitis, hospital admissions, and asthma attacks. Management practices that reduce ammonia emissions may decrease adverse health effects, resulting in significant economic benefits. We estimated the impact of a variety of emission controls, including diet optimization, alum, and incorporation of manure into the land. The results suggest that relatively modest management policies can have a significant impact on fine particulate formation in the atmosphere. Because of the heterogeneous nature of particulate matter, a key question is the importance of particulate matter size and composition. To the extent that ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate contribute to adverse health effects, ammonia management may have significant health implications. Our results suggest that a 10% reduction in livestock ammonia emissions can lead to over $4 billion annually in particulate-related health benefits.

Predicting nitrogen excretion from cattle

“…Indirect emissions occur from N that originally escaped through volatilization, leaching, or run-off or was applied for soil amendment (Owen et al, 2014). In addition to N 2 O escape to the atmosphere, manure N can result in eutrophication of surface waters, acid rain, and respiratory damage (McCubbin et al, 2002;Diaz and Rosenberg, 2008). Reducing the intensity of N excretion (i.e., amount of manure N produced per kilogram of milk or meat) is an important way to mitigate the environmental effects of animal agriculture (Montes et al, 2013).…”

Contribution from the ten major emission sectors in Europe and Denmark to the health-cost externalities of air pollution using the EVA model system – an integrated modelling approach

“…2.6). A study carried out for the USA population suggests that a 10 % reduction in livestock ammonia emissions can lead to over 4 billion USD annually in particulate-related health benefits (McCubbin et al, 2002). In a newly published assessment for nitrogen in Europe (Brink et al, 2011;Sutton et al, 2011), the total health-related external cost from emission of ammonia in Europe amounts to between 7 bn and 70 bn euros per year.…”

Prediction of nitrogen use in dairy cattle: a multivariate Bayesian approach

“…Nitrate leaching from manure to surface and ground waters contributes to eutrophication, and has lead to a 30-fold increase in hypoxic zones in the US in the past 50 years (McCubbin et al 2002;Diaz and Rosenberg 2008). Manure ammonia volatilisation can cause respiratory damage to humans and animals in proximity to accumulation sites, resulting in economic losses of up to US$12 billion/year (McCubbin et al 2002).…”

“…Nitrate leaching from manure to surface and ground waters contributes to eutrophication, and has lead to a 30-fold increase in hypoxic zones in the US in the past 50 years (McCubbin et al 2002;Diaz and Rosenberg 2008). Manure ammonia volatilisation can cause respiratory damage to humans and animals in proximity to accumulation sites, resulting in economic losses of up to US$12 billion/year (McCubbin et al 2002). Transformations of ammonia and nitrate via nitrification and denitrification processes make urinary N, in particular, an important source of nitrous oxide (Dijkstra et al 2013a), which is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 298 times that of carbon dioxide (IPCC 2006).…”