Effectiveness and diurnal variations of vegetative environmental buffers (VEBs) for mitigating NH3 and PM emissions from poultry houses

Zijiang Yang; Yao Qi; Cathleen J Hapeman; Hong Li; Michael D Buser; Joseph G Alfieri; Laura L McConnell; Peter M Downey; Alba Torrents

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122154

Effectiveness and diurnal variations of vegetative environmental buffers (VEBs) for mitigating NH₃ and PM emissions from poultry houses

Environ Pollut. 2023 Oct 1:334:122154. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122154. Epub 2023 Jul 5.

Authors

Zijiang Yang¹, Yao Qi¹, Cathleen J Hapeman², Hong Li³, Michael D Buser⁴, Joseph G Alfieri², Laura L McConnell¹, Peter M Downey², Alba Torrents⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, 1173 Glenn L. Martin Hall, College Park, MD, 20742, USA.
² United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705, United States.
³ Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, 046 Townsend Hall, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
⁴ United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Office of National Programs, 5601 Sunnyside Ave (GWCC 4-2282), Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA.
⁵ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, 1173 Glenn L. Martin Hall, College Park, MD, 20742, USA. Electronic address: alba@umd.edu.

PMID: 37419207
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122154

Abstract

Air pollutants from poultry production, such as ammonia (NH₃) and particulate matter (PM), have raised concerns due to their potential negative impacts on human health and the environment. Vegetative environmental buffers (VEBs), consisting of trees and/or grasses planted around poultry houses, have been investigated as a mitigation strategy for these emissions. Although previous research demonstrated that VEBs can reduce NH₃ and PM emissions, these studies used a limited number of samplers and did not examine concentration profiles. Moreover, the differences between daytime and nighttime emissions have not been investigated. In this study, we characterized emission profiles from a commercial poultry house using an array with multiple sampling heights and explored the differences between daytime and nighttime NH₃ and PM profiles. We conducted three sampling campaigns, each with ten sampling events (five daytime and five nighttime), at a VEB-equipped poultry production facility. NH₃ and PM samples were collected downwind from the ventilation tunnel fans before, within, and after the VEB. Results showed that ground-level concentrations beyond the VEB decreased to 8.0% ± 2.7% for NH₃, 13% ± 4% for TSP, 13% ± 4% for PM₁₀, and 2.4% ± 2.8% for PM_2.5 of the original concentrations from the exhaust tunnel fan, with greater reduction efficiency during daytime than nighttime. Furthermore, pollutant concentrations were positively intercorrelated. These findings will be valuable for developing more effective pollutant remediation strategies in poultry house emissions.

Keywords: Air quality; Ammonia; Particulate matter; Poultry house; Vegetative environmental buffer.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Ammonia / analysis
Animals
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Humans
Particulate Matter* / analysis
Plants
Poultry
Vehicle Emissions

Substances

Particulate Matter
Air Pollutants
Vehicle Emissions
Ammonia