• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.245-252
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• 2010

Disposal methods of managing carcass in Korea livestock production systems include burying, digesting, rendering, carcass dumping to manure pile, dead animal disposer and mini-incinerator. Burying was usually the most practical method of carcass disposal in our livestock farms. Burying, carcass dumping to manure pile, dead animal disposer and mini-incinerator may have environmental regulatory and economic liabilities when used as a means of carcass disposal. In many cases in this survey, these disposal methods offer a poor choice for the producer due to individual site conditions, geology, cost, air emissions, rendering plants. A survey questionnaire that addressed the issues to livestock producers was prepared. The questionnaire addressed two main topics as follows: 1) types of livestock and generation amounts of carcass 2) Number of breeding animals and disposal methods of livestock mortality. A total of 36 livestock producers were interviewed. The results of obtained in this survey were summarized as follows: The number of breeding poultry, swine, beef cow and dairy cow was 251,000, 2,600, 142 and 92 heads per year and the generation amounts of annually carcass was 0.46, 15.32, 0.36, 1.36 tons per year of each poultry, swine, beef cow and dairy cow farms, respectively. The disposal methods of carcass were burying (42%), carcass dumping to manure pile (36%), rendering (8%), incineration (6%), digesting (6%), carcass disposer (2%), respectively. These results can be used as basic information to establish the standard of carcass composting facility.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.189-196
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• 2014

In Korea, over 4,700 animal carcass disposal sites were installed until 2011 due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Due to the putrefaction of buried animals, the leachate containing veterinary antibiotics may release into surrounding environments. Antibiotic residues in the environment cause the formation of antibiotic resistance bacteria threatening human and ecosystem health. This study reports the concentrations of five antibiotics, including tetracycline (TC), chlortetracycline (CTC), oxytetracycline (OTC), sulfamethazine (SMZ), and sulfamethoxazole (SMX), in soils from animal carcass disposal site and adjacent agricultural field. Concentrations of antibiotics at animal carcass disposal sites (TC: $144.26-350.73{\mu}g/kg$, SMZ: $17.72-44.94{\mu}g/kg$) were higher than those at agricultural field (TC: $134.16-320.73{\mu}g/kg$, SMZ: $6.48-8.85{\mu}g/kg$) whereas the concentrations of CTC, OTC, and SMX were below detection limit in both sites. Results showed that the antibiotics in animal carcass site might leach to the soil and possibly contaminating the groundwater. Future studies will focus on the transfer of antibiotics residues into food crops.