A PROCEDURE AND ITS APPLICATION IN EVALUATING PIT ADDITIVES FOR ODOR CONTROL

A procedure for testing swine manure pit additive products in terms of the effectiveness of reducing malodor and volatile substances from a manure storage area is presented. This procedure combines many feature s of the past methods. It includes considerations in many respects to ensure that the test results correctly reflect the real performance of the pit additive products tested. This is necessary for providing rel iable information to pork producers in selecting appropriate pit addit ive products for odor control. Five commercial pit additive products w ere tested using this procedure and the data for both odor threshold a nd liquid chemical analysis were obtained. Based on this study, all fi ve products significantly reduced odor threshold levels as compared wi th the control samples. Four of the five products reduced odor thresho ld by 83% to 87% and the other reduced by 58%. Liquid chemical analysi s showed that three of the five products accomplished significant redu ctions in volatile fatty acids. The reduction of aerial ammonia and hy drogen sulfide emissions was not determined.