Antibiotic resistance genes in swine manure slurry as affected by pit additives and facility disinfectants

Authors

Maria C. Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jon Duerschner, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
John E. Gilley, USDA ARSFollow
Amy Schmidt, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Daniel D. Snow, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Kent M. Eskridge, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Xu Li, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2021

Citation

Science of the Total Environment 761 (2021) 143287

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143287

Comments

U.S. government work

Abstract

Manure storage facilities are critical control points to reduce antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in swine manure slurry before the slurry is land applied. However, little is known about how exogenous chemicals entering the manure storage facilities may affect the fate of ARGs. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of six commonly used pit additives and four facility disinfectants on the concentration of ARGs in swine manure slurry. Bench scale reactors, each containing approximately 50 L of liquid swine manure, were dosed with additives or disinfectants and were sampled for 40 days. Seven antibiotic resistance genes along with the intI1 gene and the 16S rRNA gene were monitored. Out of the six additives tested, Sludge Away significantly reduced the time-averaged absolute abundance of erm(C), erm(F), tet(Q), and the 16S rRNA gene as compared to the no additive control. Out of the four disinfectants tested, Tek-Trol significantly reduced the time-averaged absolute abundance of erm(B), erm(C), erm(F), intI1, tet(Q), and tet(X) than did the no-disinfectant control. According to Spearman's rank correlation, three genes erm(F), tet(Q), and tet(X) showed a strong to perfectly positive correlation and the two genes erm(B) and tet(O) showed a moderate to strong correlation in both the additive and disinfectant tests. Overall, the disinfectants were more effective in controlling the absolute abundance of ARGs than were the pit additives.