Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Livestock Nutrient Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #319672
Title: Odor and odorous chemical emissions from dairy and swine facilities: Part 5-Simultaneous chemical and sensory analysis with Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry - Olfactometry

Author
item ZHANG, SHICHENG - Fudan University
item KOZIEL, JACEK - Iowa State University
item LINGSHUANG, CAI - Iowa State University
item HOFF, STEVE - Iowa State University
item HEATEKOTE, KATIE - Iowa State University
item CHEN, LIJUN - Fudan University
item JACOBSON, LARRY - University Of Minnesota
item AKDENIZ, NESLIHAN - University Of Minnesota
item HETCHLER, BRIAN - University Of Minnesota
item Parker, David

Submitted to: Transactions of the ASABE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/8/2015
Publication Date: 10/1/2015
Citation: Zhang, S., Koziel, J.A., Lingshuang, C., Hoff, S., Heatekote, K., Chen, L., Jacobson, L., Akdeniz, N., Hetchler, B., Parker, D.B. 2015. Odor and odorous chemical emissions from dairy and swine facilities: Part 5-Simultaneous chemical and sensory analysis with Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry - Olfactometry. Transactions of the ASABE 58(5):1349-1359.

Interpretive Summary: This study was an add-on project to the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study (NAEMS). The project focused on comprehensive measurements of odor and chemical emissions from two dairy facilities and two swine facilities. Odorous gas samples were collected every two weeks for a 17 month period from 2007 to 2009. This research measured the relationships between individual gas concentrations, and the corresponding intensities to human odor panelists. These gas concentration - intensity relationships were stronger with swine odors than with dairy odors. The total odor emitted from swine sites was generally greater than that from dairy sites. Linking specific gases to odor could assist in the development and evaluation of odor reduction technologies for solving livestock odor problems.

Technical Abstract: Simultaneous chemical and sensory analyses using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry (GC-MS-O) for air samples collected at barn exhaust fans were used for quantification and ranking of odor impact of target odorous gases. Fifteen target odorous VOCs (odorants) were selected. Air samples were collected at dairy barns in Wisconsin and Indiana and swine barns in Iowa and Indiana over a one year period. The livestock facilities with these barns participated in the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study (NAEMS). Gas concentrations, odor character and intensity, hedonic tone, and odor peak area of target odorants in air samples were measured simultaneously with the GC-MS-O. The four individual odorants emitted from both dairy and swine sites with the largest odor impacts (measured as odor activity value, OAV) were 4-methyl phenol, butanoic acid, 3-methyl butanoic acid, and indole. The total odor (limited to target VOCs and referred to as the measured concentrations, odor intensities, and OAVs) emitted from swine sites was generally greater than that from dairy sites. The Weber-Fechner law was used to correlate measured odor intensities with chemical concentrations. Odorants with higher mean OAV followed the Weber-Fechner law much better than odorants with lower mean OAV. The correlations of odorants between odor intensities and chemical concentrations for swine sites (typically p<0.05 and , R2 = 0.16 to 0.51) were much better than for dairy sites (typically p>0.05 and R2 < 0.15). Linking specific gases to odor could assist in the development and evaluation of odor mitigation technologies for solving livestock odor nuisance problems.