Poultry Production and Environmental Health

Abstract

The localization and intensification of the poultry industry over thepast 50 years has incidentally created a largely ignored environmentalmanagement crisis. As a result of these changes in poultry production,concentrated animal feeding operations produce far more waste than can bemanaged by land disposal within the regions where it is produced. However,much less attention has been given to the potential risks related to poultry wasteconstituents, including ammonia, pathogenic bacteria, antibiotic-resistantbacteria, and residues of the drugs added to poultry feeds. In addition, there areseveral chemicals emitted from poultry litters, which in turn affects theenvironment in both beneficial and detrimental ways. Several steroid hormonesand trace elements are also found to impact the environment and humanpopulation. This paper will focus on the effects of poultry production on theenvironment, and vice versa, and the methods used to utilize poultry litter tomitigate the effects on the environment and climate change.