Thursday, April 16, 2009

Using Manure to Clean Spills

Chicken Manure Biodegrades Crude Oil In Contaminated Soil
ScienceDaily — It is an unlikely application, but researchers in China have discovered that chicken manure can be used to biodegrade crude oil in contaminated soil. Writing in the International Journal of Environment and Pollution the team explains how bacteria in chicken manure break down 50% more crude oil than soil lacking the guano.

The team carried out a microbial analysis of their samples and identified 21 different microbial species known as aerobic heterotrophs. The team explains that Bacillus species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the best oil-munching microbes but of the 21 isolates 12 were capable of metabolizing components of crude oil. Other microbes included Proteus, Enterobacter, and Micrococcus species. Bacillus represented the most prevalent species.

"The use of chicken manure to stimulate crude oil biodegradation in the soil could be one of the several sought-after environmentally friendly ways of abating petroleum hydrocarbon pollution in the natural ecosystem," the team concludes. Read More

It’s amazing that many people are trying to categorize manure as a toxic waste, and at the same time, we find out that it works great to clean up oil spills. Most people don’t understand that manure should be treated as a resource not a waste product.

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