Animal carcass burial management: implications for sustainable biochar use

Meththika Vithanage; S S Mayakaduwage; Viraj Gunarathne; Anushka Upamali Rajapaksha; Mahtab Ahmad; Adel Abduljabbar; Adel Usman; Mohammad I Al-Wabel; James A Ippolito; Yong Sik Ok

doi:10.1186/s13765-021-00652-z

Animal carcass burial management: implications for sustainable biochar use

Appl Biol Chem. 2021;64(1):91. doi: 10.1186/s13765-021-00652-z. Epub 2021 Dec 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Ecosphere Resilience Research Centre, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, 10250 Sri Lanka.
² School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
³ Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320 Pakistan.
⁴ Industrial Psychology, College of Education, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Soil Sciences Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO USA.
⁷ Korea Biochar Research Center, APRU Sustainable Waste Management and Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, 02841 South Korea.

Abstract

This review focuses on existing technologies for carcass and corpse disposal and potential alternative treatment strategies. Furthermore, key issues related to these treatments (e.g., carcass and corpse disposal events, available methods, performances, and limitations) are addressed in conjunction with associated environmental impacts. Simultaneously, various treatment technologies have been evaluated to provide insights into the adsorptive removal of specific pollutants derived from carcass disposal and management. In this regard, it has been proposed that a low-cost pollutant sorbent may be utilized, namely, biochar. Biochar has demonstrated the ability to remove (in)organic pollutants and excess nutrients from soils and waters; thus, we identify possible biochar uses for soil and water remediation at carcass and corpse disposal sites. To date, however, little emphasis has been placed on potential biochar use to manage such disposal sites. We highlight the need for strategic efforts to accurately assess biochar effectiveness when applied towards the remediation of complex pollutants produced and circulated within carcass and corpse burial systems.

Keywords: Biochar; Carcass burial; Human corpses; Pandemic; Soil amendment.

Publication types

Review