Devitalization of Bacteria in Composted Cattle Manure with Natural Additives and Risk for Environment

• Published in: Life (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 14; no. 4; p. 490
• Main Authors: Mindžáková, Ingrid, Gregová, Gabriela, Szabóová, Tatiana, Sasáková, Naďa, Venglovský, Ján
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.04.2024
• Subjects: Additives; Animals; Bacteria; Cattle; Cattle manure; Chemical properties; Composting; Dietary supplements; E coli; Environmental aspects; Environmental conditions; Environmental risk; Farms; Food contamination & poisoning; Health aspects; hydrated lime; Lime; Listeria; Livestock; Manures; Microorganisms; Moisture content; Organic matter; Organic phosphorus; Pathogens; pH effects; Salmonella; Salmonella spp; Soil nutrients; Soil remediation; Substrates; Temperature; Wheat straw; zeolite; Zeolites; Slovakia; composting; zeolite; Salmonella spp; cattle manure; hydrated lime; E. coli
• ISSN: 2075-1729; 2075-1729
• DOI: 10.3390/life14040490

Nowadays, there is an effort to improve the effectiveness of the composting process, supported by the addition of various supplements to reduce soil nutrition losses and increase soil remediation. The aim of this study was to examine the devitalization effect of natural additives like zeolite-clinoptilolite and its combination with hydrated lime in composted cattle manure on indicator and pathogen bacteria. The composting process was running in three static piles of cattle manure mixed with wheat straw (control, zeolite-lime, and zeolite) for 126 days. Composted manure substrates were determined for physicochemical (temperature, pH, nitrogen and phosphorus content, C/N, organic matter, and moisture) and microbiological analyses ( spp., indicator bacteria). The effects of additives were reflected in changes in physicochemical factors, e.g., an increase in temperature (<53 °C) or pH (<9.3). According to Pearson correlation, these changes (pH, Nt, Pt) resulted in a significant decrease ( < 0.001) of indicator bacteria (two or three orders) in zeolite pile or zeolite-lime pile. Die-off of spp. in the zeolite-lime pile was indicated within 41 days; in other piles, this occurred on day 63. Our results can aid in further optimizing the composting of cattle manure in order to lower environmental pollution and the risk of human infection.