Removal of Estrogens at Full and Pilot Scale Livestock Manure Treatment Systems

Three experiments were conducted to 1) develop appropriate methods for livestock manure estrogen analysis; 2) determine estrogen removal in different manure treatment systems; and 3) determine estrogen removal from dairy manure in pilot scale reactors. In Experiment I, the recoveries of 17ß-estradiol (E2) and estriol (E3) were evaluated in double distilled water and dairy manure after a base extraction and analysis of estrogens by enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and yeast estrogen screen (YES) assay. The recoveries of E2 were 104 % (ELISA) and 97 % (YES) in double distilled water. 112 % of E2 and 79 % of E3 in flushed dairy manure and 118 % of E2 in anaerobic digester effluent were recovered with ELISA. 67 % and 140 % of E2 in flushed manure and anaerobic digester effluent, respectively, were recovered with YES assay. In Experiment II, samples were collected from a full-scale manure handling system incorporating separation and aeration (Separation/Aeration), an anaerobic digester receiving dairy manure (Anaerobic Digester), and four conventional dairy and swine manure storages. 70% of E2 (230 vs. 769 µg/cow/day) and 86 % of E3 (78 vs. 552 µg/cow/day) mass were remove