1H-NMR-based profiling of organic components in leachate from animal carcasses disposal site with time

Delineating the impacts of poultry burial leachate on shallow groundwater in a reclaimed agro-livestock farming area, using multivariate statistical analysis of hydrochemical data

Burial is applied to dispose of livestock carcasses due to its convenience and cost efficiency despite concerns about groundwater contamination by leachate from burial pits. In particular, the burial method has caused debates about groundwater contamination sources around on-farm livestock burial sites because of pre- and coexisting contamination from livestock production and agriculture. To assess the causes of groundwater contamination around poultry burial pits that were constructed after an outbreak of avian influenza in 2010-11 in Korea, hydrochemical data of groundwater samples from monitoring wells (MWs, n = 14) and household wells (HWs, n = 30) were monitored to differentiate contamination sources. Hydrochemical data indicated that groundwater from MWs is characterized by higher enrichments of inorganic constituents including electrical conductivity (EC), NH₄, Ca, Mg, K, SO₄, HCO₃, Fe_(Total), and Mn_(Total), but lower concentrations of DO than groundwater from HWs. The combined use of the principal component analysis (PCA) and K-means cluster analysis (KCA) indicated that groundwater in seven MWs was affected by leachate. The parameters such as NH₄, Ca, Mg, K, SO₄, HCO₃, Fe_(Total), and Mn_(Total) are expected to be useful to identify the impact of leachate on groundwater in agricultural areas. This study suggests that (1) regional hydrochemical characteristics should be assessed to distinguish the effect of livestock burial leachate from other contamination sources and (2) the combined use of PCA and KCA is effective to identify the weakened impact of leachate leakage among overlapping multiple sources and processes of groundwater contamination.

Fate of tetracycline resistance in synthetic livestock carcass leachate for two years

To simulate the fate of antibiotic resistance in leachate from anaerobic carcass landfill site, anaerobic reactors were set-up and their antibiotic resistance activities were monitored for 2 years. Initially, Escherichia coli DH5α with tetracycline resistance pB10 plasmid was inoculated in nutrient rich anaerobic reactors. The fate of tetracycline resistant bacteria (TRB) was tracked by analysis using culture-based method, EC₅₀ (half maximal effective concentration), and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Based on the temporal pattern of EC₅₀ during the study period, TRB continuously increased during Phase I (0-250th day), went down in Phase II (after 250th day to 500th day), and then increased again by the end of Phase III (after 500th day to the 774th day). Interestingly, pB10 plasmid accumulated in the system as the community diversities increased over time. At the end of experiment, the tetracycline resistance microbial communities were investigated by 16s RNA gene-based pyro sequencing. The results of this study indicated that leachate with high organic strength in anaerobic conditions could be an antibiotic resistant point source in several year periods.

Visualization of Microfloral Metabolism for Marine Waste Recycling

Marine biomass including fishery products are precious protein resources for human foods and are an alternative to livestock animals in order to reduce the virtual water problem. However, a large amount of marine waste can be generated from fishery products and it is not currently recycled. We evaluated the metabolism of digested marine waste using integrated analytical methods, under anaerobic conditions and the fertilization of abandoned agricultural soils. Dynamics of fish waste digestion revealed that samples of meat and bony parts had similar dynamics under anaerobic conditions in spite of large chemical variations in input marine wastes. Abandoned agricultural soils fertilized with fish waste accumulated some amino acids derived from fish waste, and accumulation of l-arginine and l-glutamine were higher in plant seedlings. Therefore, we have proposed an analytical method to visualize metabolic dynamics for recycling of fishery waste processes.