Managing waste from confined animal feeding operations in the United States: the need for sanitary reform.
Confined food-animal operations in the United States produce more than 40 times the amount of waste than human biosolids generated from US wastewater treatment plants. Unlike biosolids, which must meet regulatory standards for pathogen levels, vector attraction reduction and metal content, no treatment is required of waste from animal agriculture. This omission is of concern based on dramatic changes in livestock production over the past 50 years, which have resulted in large increases in animal waste and a high degree of geographic concentration of waste associated with the regional growth of industrial food-animal production. Regulatory measures have not kept pace with these changes. The purpose of this paper is to: 1) review trends that affect food-animal waste production in the United States, 2) assess risks associated with food-animal wastes, 3) contrast food-animal waste management practices to management practices for biosolids and 4) make recommendations based on existing and potential policy options to improve management of food-animal waste.
Graham
Jay P
JP
Division of Environmental Health Engineering, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Room E6642, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. jgraham@jhsph.edu
Nachman
Keeve E
KE
D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000592:standards*; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D002417:Cattle; D002645:Chickens; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006728:Hormones; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods*; D012498:Sanitary Engineering / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D013552:Swine; D013997:Time Factors; D014422:Turkeys; D014481:United States; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D006728:Hormones; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical