Grantee Research Project Results
2008 Progress Report: Effects of Cattle Manure Handling and Management Strategies on Fate and Transport of Hormones in the Feedlot and the Field
EPA Grant Number: R833423Title: Effects of Cattle Manure Handling and Management Strategies on Fate and Transport of Hormones in the Feedlot and the Field
Investigators: Snow, Daniel , Zhang, Tian C. , Shapiro, Charles , Shelton, David , Bartelt-Hunt, Shannon , Mader, Terry , Kranz, William
Institution: University of Nebraska at Lincoln
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009 (Extended to June 30, 2011)
Project Period Covered by this Report: July 1, 2008 through June 30,2009
Project Amount: $699,607
RFA: Fate and Effects of Hormones in Waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOS) (2006) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Endocrine Disruptors , Human Health , Safer Chemicals
Objective:
The objectives of this research project are to: (1) quantify hormones in various stages of the manure pathway in cattle feedlots, (2) determine the effects of different handling practices of cattle feedlot wastes on the stability and availability of hormones in cattle feedlots, (3) determine the effects of different land application strategies on the fate and transport of hormones used in beef cattle production in vadose zone soils, and (4) determine if grasses from conservation buffers assimilate hormones.
Progress Summary:
Analytical methods for extraction and analysis of trace levels of steroid hormones from water and soils were developed. Detection limits were validated using replicate analysis of low-level fortified matrix. Two cattle feeding studies were completed in 2007 and 2008 to provide manure from treated and untreated cattle. Samples of feeding pen surfaces and run-off samples were collected for analysis of steroid hormones. Feedlot surface samples were collected at 7, 45 and 125 days after cattle were placed in pens. Approximately 30 runoff events were sampled using tipping bucket samplers from the feeding pens. Cattle treated with implants gained 3.23 lb/day, while untreated cattle gained 2.65 lb/day. Manure from the first study was placed in compost piles and anaerobic stockpiles, covered and sampled over a 6-8 month period to determine persistence during manure storage.
Future Activities:
Tasks and activities underway during the second year of the project include rainfall simulation experiments with first year stockpiled and composted manure, sampling of lysimeters beneath test plots receiving manure from the first year pen study, sampling of grasses fertilized with manure, laboratory degradation studies using bioreactors, sorption and degradation experiments with 14C-labelled compounds, and analysis of first year feedlot run-off, pen surface and rain-fall simulation samples. The survey task will be scheduled during the third year of the project in order to spread out sample collection and analysis, as well as to help coordinate cooperative efforts with EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory to include samples of ground water from the project sites.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 14 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
estradiol, estrogen, androgen, endocrine disruption; , Scientific Discipline, Health, RFA, Endocrine Disruptors - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Environmental Chemistry, Endocrine Disruptors - Human Health, animal feeding operations, endocrine disrupting chemicals, EDCs, CAFOs, agrochemicalsRelevant Websites:
University of Nebraska: Dan Snow Exit
University of Nebraska: School of Natural Resources Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.