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"A Lenawee County woman's complaints against two dairy concentrated animal
feeding operations (CAFOs) for discharging manure wastes into county drains
has yielded staggering levels of E.Coli bacteria contamination of the
effected drains. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality laboratory
tests obtained last week found samples of water downstream of one facility
to contain 570,000 E.Coli colonies per 100 milliliters, or 1,900 times the
state's maximum standard for E.Coli in surface waters."
Manure Storage Poses Invisible Risks, by Jeff Lorimor, extension engineer; Charles V. Schwab, extension safety specialist, and Laura Miller, extension communications, Iowa
State University Extension, Ames, Iowa --
Fact Sheet Pm-1518k, a series
of the Safe Farm Program, Iowa State University Extension
"Gases and odors may be a nuisance for many livestock producers, but they also can be a life-threatening danger when confined to buildings or manure pits."
Did you know that livestock excrete 70-80 percent of the nitrogen, 60-85 percent of the phosphorus, and 80-90 percent
of the potassium fed to them? For example, if you feed 100 acres of corn to your livestock and collect all of the manure,
there may be enough phosphorus and potassium to fertilize 75 acres (depending on your soil test phosphorus and
potassium levels). Although the availability of manure nitrogen depends on several uncontrollable factors, the availability of
manure phosphorus and potassium do not. Most of the fertilizer value of manure comes from phosphorus and
potassium, not nitrogen. This bulletin will help you begin to manage manure as a crop nutrient resource, not a waste
product.
Potential Health Effects of Odor From Animal Operations,
Wastewater Treatment, and Recycling of Byproducts,
by Susan S. Schiffman, PhD, Duke University, NC, John M. Walker, PhD, US
EPA, Office of Water (sludge office), Pam Dalton, PhD, Tyler S. Lorig, PhD,
James H. Raymer, PhD, Dennis Shusterman, MD, C. Mike Williams, PhD --
EXCERPTS
ABSTRACT. Complaints of health symptoms from ambient odors have become
more frequent in communities with confined animal facilities, wastewater
treatment plants, and biosolids recycling operations.
The most frequently reported health complaints include eye, nose,
and throat irritation, headache, nausea, diarrhea, hoarseness, sore
throat, cough, chest tightness, nasal congestion, palpitations,
shortness of breath, stress, drowsiness, and alterations in mood.
Typically, these symptoms occur at the time of exposure and remit
after a short period of time. However, for sensitive individuals such
as asthmatic patients, exposure to odors may induce health symptoms that
persist for longer periods of time as well as aggravate existing medical
conditions.
A workshop was held at Duke University on April 16-17, 1998
cosponsored by Duke University, the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), and National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication
Disorders (NIDCD) to assess the current state of knowledge regarding the
health effects of ambient odors.
This report summarizes the conclusions from the Workshop regarding
the potential mechanisms responsible for health symptoms from ambient
odors. Methods for validation of health symptoms, presence of odor,
and efficacy of odor management techniques are described as well.
Book Available from Haworth Press
Summary
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