Department of Animal Science
Date of this Version
January 2000
Abstract
During the last few decades, an increasing interest in, and respect for, the environment has arisen. This has consequences for livestock production. Air can become polluted by noxious odors from animal husbandry. A particular example is odor emission from pig buildings, because in several parts of the world pig production has become highly specialized, industrialized and concentrated geographically. Air quality in pig facilities, as it influences the well-being of animals and workers, has become a major concern for pork producers. Odors emanating from pig slurry are an increasing source of environmental pollution as well as a nuisance to the human population in the vicinity. Emission regulations that establish a maximum acceptable emission rate for individual pollutants released from a source are currently under debate for production agriculture in several regions throughout the United States. To meet increasingly stringent air quality demands, pork producers will be obligated to adopt technologies and innovations in production to minimize the concentration of pollutants present in the odor emitted from pig facilities. The purpose of this review is to discuss how ammonia is produced, the human health concerns involved, and the control of ammonia and odor emission.
Comments
Published in 2000 Nebraska Swine Report, compiled by Rodger Johnson, Professor, Department of Animal Science. Prepared by the staff in Animal Science and cooperating Departments for use in Extension, Teaching and Research programs. Published by Cooperative Extension Division, Agricultural Research Division, and Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Swine reports website: www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/swine/pigpdf.htm