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Keeve E. Nachman,¹ Jay P. Graham,² Lance B. Price,² and Ellen K. Silbergeld²

¹Department of Health Policy and Management, and ²Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Abstract
The localization and intensification of the poultry industry over the past 50 years have incidentally created a largely ignored environmental management crisis. As a result of these changes in poultry production, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) produce far more waste than can be managed by land disposal within the regions where it is produced. As a result, alternative waste management practices are currently being implemented, including incineration and pelletization of waste. However, organic arsenicals used in poultry feed are converted to inorganic arsenicals in poultry waste, limiting the feasibility of waste management alternatives. The presence of inorganic arsenic in incinerator ash and pelletized waste sold as fertilizer creates opportunities for population exposures that did not previously exist. The removal of arsenic from animal feed is a critical step toward safe poultry waste management. Key words: arsenic, biomass burning, fertilizer, incineration, pelletization, poultry litter, poultry waste, waste management, waste-to-energy. Environ Health Perspect 113:1123-1124 (2005) . doi:10.1289/ehp.7834 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 12 May 2005]

Address correspondence to K. Nachman, 624 North Broadway, Hampton House, Room 513, Baltimore, MD 21205 USA. Telephone: (410) 614-2188. Fax: (410) 614-4535. E-mail: knachman@jhsph.edu

All authors contributed equally to the content of this commentary.

This research was funded by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.

The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 7 December 2004 ; accepted 12 May 2005.

Correction

In the manuscript originally published online, the reported sales of incinerator ash fertilizer by Fibrophos were given for 2002 and 2003 ; the sales have been updated here for 2004 and 2005.