Antibiotic Inhibition on Anaerobic Digestion of Animal Manure and Controlling Strategies: A Short Review

Abstract

Despite the efficacy of anaerobic digestion (AD) in stabilizing animal wastes as well as alleviating global warming associated with natural decomposition of animal manure, the process is susceptible to antibiotics that commonly exist in animal manure. Although antibiotics have served veterinary purposes in large quantities for decades, knowledge concerning their impacts on methane production during AD of animal manure is still in its infancy. Antibiotics used in animal practice are recognized as one of the major contributors to the development of resistant pathogens. Their fate and long‐term environmental impacts following land application or disposal of the animal manure into the aquatic environment, with resistance development and associated risks on human health as the primary focus, are well reviewed in many previous publications. To date, to the best of our knowledge, few efforts are made on reviewing the impacts of antibiotics on AD of animal manure and the mitigation strategies. In this review, detailed summaries of earlier and recent works conducted on the inhibition of antibiotics on AD of animal manure are presented, with special interest directed toward available and new controlling strategies in terms of technical and regulatory aspects. Finally, in view of process balance and successive operation, further research should be carried out to gain insight into dynamic interactions of antibiotics and other commonly seen coexistent inhibitors/intermediates in the AD systems.