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Review
. 2020 Jul 14;17(14):5053.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17145053.

Phenomenal Bombardment of Antibiotic in Poultry: Contemplating the Environmental Repercussions

Muthu Manikandan  1 , Sechul Chun  1 , Zakayo Kazibwe  1 , Judy Gopal  1 , Udai Bhan Singh  2 , Jae-Wook Oh  3
Affiliations
Review

Phenomenal Bombardment of Antibiotic in Poultry: Contemplating the Environmental Repercussions

Muthu Manikandan et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Antibiotics have constantly been added at an unprecedented rate in order to enhance poultry meat production. Such antibiotics impose a negative impact on human health directly through meat and egg consumption. On the other hand, they also affect humans indirectly by affecting the normal key microbial processes in the agricultural environments, when used as poultry compost. For many years, farmers have been turning poultry litter into compost for agricultural use. Very few studies have addressed the fate of the unmetabolized antibiotic residues in poultry litter that could potentially affect microbial communities when used as poultry compost. We have also questioned the fate of residual antibiotic in poultry waste which may create possible negative environmental pressure on microbial communities that are involved in microbial mediated poultry litter composting processes. The incorporation of antibiotic degrading environmental isolates in poultry litter at the initial stage of composting in order to accelerate the process is addressed in this review as a future perspective.

Keywords: antibiotics; composting; degradation; environment; microorganisms; poultry; toxicity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic emphasizing the futuristic environmentally friendly and promising microbially accelerated poultry waste/litter composting.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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