Roxarsone is a poultry feed additive, used to increase survival rates of poultry in large, commercial operations. The Shenandoah Valley, in western Virginia, is a major poultry production region and applying poultry manure to farm fields is a common practice. The purpose of this study was to determine if As and other trace metals in poultry manure modified the concentration of soil metal levels when applied to soil.<br/>Twelve soil samples were taken with a soil auger from a field that had received annual applications of poultry manure. Twelve additional control samples were taken from a field, directly adjacent to the study site, which had never been treated with poultry manure. Each soil sample was split into a surface sample (top 10 cm of soil) and a sub-surface sample (10 to 20 cm in depth). These forty-eight samples were extracted with a solution of acetic acid, nitric acid and EDTA (Mehlich’s Soil Extractant 3) and analyzed for Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn with flame atomic adsorption spectroscopy. Arsenic concentrations were determined from a total soil digest and analyzed by graphite furnace atomic adsorption spectroscopy. Analysis of variance, ANOVA, was used to determine if chemical differences exist between the four sample groups. The ANOVA test was followed by a Tukey-Kramer Multiple-Comparison Test to identify pairwise differences.<br/>Poultry manure treatment increased Cu levels in both surface and sub-surface samples and Fe and Mn were depleted in both surface and sub-surface samples. Zinc levels were higher in surface samples, and treatment with manure increased Zn levels. Arsenic levels showed no differences between any of the groups sampled, indicating there is no arsenic buildup in soils treated with poultry manure.<br/>

Changes to As, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn concentrations in soil resulting from the application of poultry manure

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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