The Characteristics of Key Odorants from Livestock Farms and Their Mitigation Potential: A Meta-Analysis

Year: 2025

Type: review

Study designs: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis

Abstract: The persistent issue of odor nuisance poses significant challenges to the sustainable development of livestock farming. While previous studies have primarily focused on individual gas concentrations, a comprehensive understanding of overall odor impact based on human perception remains limited. This study introduces a novel perspective by employing the odor activity value (OAV)—calculated from the ratio of gas concentration to its olfactory threshold—to evaluate the actual odor contribution of various compounds. Through a meta-analysis of data from 123 papers, we systematically assessed odor emission characteristics and mitigation strategies across different manure management stages. The results indicated that ammonia (NH3) (with maximum concentration of 8056 ppm) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) (with maximum concentration of 20,057 ppm) were the most concentrated odor components in the whole manure management links. However, considering the olfactory threshold, trimethylamine (TMA) (with OAVmax 380800), H2S (with OAVmax 48919512), butyric acid (with OAVmax 801684), and aldehydes (with OAVmax 11707) played major odor-causing roles. Notably, biological methods (83%), covering (77%), and additives (39%) were the most efficient odor mitigation strategies in the barn, manure storage, and manure treatment link, respectively. Therefore, employing the OAV-based approach is crucial for identifying priority pollutants and developing targeted control strategies across different livestock species and management stages, ultimately guiding more effective odor mitigation and healthier cohabitation.

Source: Atmosphere

DOI: 10.3390/atmos16091097

Authors: Yazhan Ren, Ruifang Zhang, Lu Zhang, Hongge Wang, Xinyuan Zhang, Zhaohai Bai, Lin Ma, Xuan Wang

Institutions: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hebei Agricultural University, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Nanjing University

Language: English

Topic: Odor and Emission Control Technologies

Subfield: Process Chemistry and Technology

Field: Chemical Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,896

Funders: Innovative Research Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province, Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bureau of International Cooperation, Chinese Academy of Sciences

OpenAlex ID: W4414330382