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VERIFICATION OF AMBIENT MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES FOR AMMONIA AND HYDROGEN SULFIDE AT ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS
Citation:
SUMNER, A. L., K. A. COWEN, A. B. DINDAL, K. B. RIGGS, J. L. HATFIELD, R. L. PFEIFFER, K. D. SCOGGINS, E. D. WINEGAR, AND R. G. FUERST. VERIFICATION OF AMBIENT MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES FOR AMMONIA AND HYDROGEN SULFIDE AT ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS. Presented at Air and Waste Management Association, Durham, NC, May 09 - 11, 2006.
Impact/Purpose:
The overall objective of the ETV Program is to accelerate the entrance of new environmental technologies into the domestic and international marketplace by identifying the environmental performance characteristics of commercial-ready technology through the evaluation of objective and quality assured data. This provides the potential purchasers and permitters with an independent and credible assessment of what they are buying and/or permitting. The AMS Center has received funding to performance verify monitoring technologies relevant for homeland security.
Description:
The increasing concentration of livestock agriculture into animal feeding operations (AFOs) has raised concerns about the environmental and potential health impact of the emissions from AFOs into the atmosphere. Gaseous ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S), byproducts of animal wastes, are emitted from AFOs into the atmosphere. In 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that agricultural activities accounted for 65% of the total NH3 emissions into the atmosphere. Ammonia impacts regional and national air quality, specifically through nitrogen deposition and production of atmospheric haze, due to its ability to form ammonium sulfate and nitrate aerosols. NH3 can also impact human health at high levels [i.e., greater than 50 parts per million (ppm)] and has a strong, sharp characteristic odor. Emissions of H2S from AFOs, on the other hand, are unlikely to have a significant influence on regional or national air quality, but may have a significant affect nearby AFOs; H2S is a component of "sewer gas" and has the generally objectionable odor of rotten eggs, which can decrease the quality of life in the proximity of H2S sources. However, the ability to smell H2S can dull or deaden at levels higher than approximately 50 ppm, and H2S is toxic at levels greater than 500 ppm.