How Safe is Chicken Litter for Land Application as an Organic Fertilizer?: A Review

Margaret Kyakuwaire, Giregon Olupot, Alice Amoding, Peter Nkedi-Kizza and Twaha Ateenyi Basamba
Additional contact information
Margaret Kyakuwaire: Department of Agriculture, Kyambogo University, P.O. Box 1, Kyambogo, Kampala 759125, Uganda
Giregon Olupot: Department of Agricultural Production, School of Agricultural Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala 759125, Uganda
Alice Amoding: Department of Agricultural Production, School of Agricultural Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala 759125, Uganda
Peter Nkedi-Kizza: Department of Soil and Water Sciences, University of Florida, 2181 McCarty Hall, P.O. Box 110290, Gainesville, FL 32601-0290, USA
Twaha Ateenyi Basamba: Department of Agricultural Production, School of Agricultural Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala 759125, Uganda

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-23

Abstract: Chicken litter application on land as an organic fertilizer is the cheapest and most environmentally safe method of disposing of the volume generated from the rapidly expanding poultry industry worldwide. However, little is known about the safety of chicken litter for land application and general release into the environment. Bridging this knowledge gap is crucial for maximizing the benefits of chicken litter as an organic fertilizer and mitigating negative impacts on human and environmental health. The key safety concerns of chicken litter are its contamination with pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, helminthes, parasitic protozoa, and viruses; antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant genes; growth hormones such as egg and meat boosters; heavy metals; and pesticides. Despite the paucity of literature about chicken litter safety for land application, the existing information was scattered and disjointed in various sources, thus making them not easily accessible and difficult to interpret. We consolidated scattered pieces of information about known contaminants found in chicken litter that are of potential risk to human, animal, and environmental health and how they are spread. This review tested the hypothesis that in its current form, chicken litter does not meet the minimum standards for application as organic fertilizer. The review entails a meta-analysis of technical reports, conference proceedings, peer-reviewed journal articles, and internet texts. Our findings indicate that direct land application of chicken litter could be harming animal, human, and environmental health. For example, counts of pathogenic strains of Eschericia coli (10 5 –10 10 CFU g −1 ) and Coliform bacteria (10 6 –10 8 CFU g −1 ) exceeded the maximum permissible limits (MPLs) for land application. In Australia, 100% of broiler litter tested was contaminated with Actinobacillus and re-used broiler litter was more contaminated with Salmonella than non-re-used broiler litter. Similarly, in the US, all (100%) broiler litter was contaminated with Eschericia coli containing genes resistant to over seven antibiotics, particularly amoxicillin, ceftiofur, tetracycline, and sulfonamide. Chicken litter is also contaminated with a vast array of antibiotics and heavy metals. There are no standards set specifically for chicken litter for most of its known contaminants. Even where standards exist for related products such as compost, there is wide variation across countries and bodies mandated to set standards for safe disposal of organic wastes. More rigorous studies are needed to ascertain the level of contamination in chicken litter from both broilers and layers, especially in developing countries where there is hardly any data; set standards for all the contaminants; and standardize these standards across all agencies, for safe disposal of chicken litter on land.

Keywords: antibiotic residues; chicken litter contaminants; growth hormones; heavy metals; human; animal and environmental health; pathogenic microorganisms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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