Concentrated animal feeding operations and surface water quality

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) present a complex contamination situation due to the contents of the manure, which is stored on-site and spread over agricultural fields as fertilizer. Possible pollution pathways can include leaky manure storage at the site as well as overland flow and infiltration causing surface water and groundwater contamination from manure spread on fields. For this study, surface water samples were collected upstream, adjacent, and downstream from three hog and one beef CAFO site in DeKalb County and Kane County, Illinois. Surface water samples were analyzed for multiple contaminants including antibiotics, nutrients, micronutrients, and bacteria. Seven different antibiotics, including tetracycline, chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, tylosin, sulfamethazine, sulfadimethoxine, and sulfamethoxazole were analyzed using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Tetracyline, gentamicin, sulfamethazine and beta lactam antibiotics were analyzed for presence/absence using IDEXX SNAPRTM kits. An ion chromatograph was used to quantify the nutrients nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate. High resolution-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) was used to determine the concentrations of metals and micronutrients. This type of analysis has previously not been done to study CAFOs. Finally, a bacterial analysis was completed using IDEXX Quanti-trays and ColilertRTM to test for total coliform and E. coli. During a snowmelt and rain event in January 2013 the greatest impact on surface water quality was seen. This event showed many indications of CAFO pollution including antibiotics, phosphate and elevated levels of E. coli. This study found that antibiotics are present in the surface waters of DeKalb County and Kane County at higher concentrations than reported in previous studies. Overall, SNAPRTM kits had the highest detection rate of antibiotics and proved to be the most useful method for the rapid identification of these compounds. The results found here indicate that CAFOs do contribute to the decline in surface quality and that antibiotics can be detected in waters proximal to these sites. This study contributes to literature by outlining new methods, such as HR-ICP-MS techniques, that are effective when monitoring CAFOs, thus giving future researchers an additional tool for their studies.