Is hog manure toxic or hazardous to the environment?
A. When managed properly, manure presents little risk to the public or to the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines a toxic substance as a chemical or mixture that may pose an unreasonable risk of injury to human health or the environment. Hazardous substances include those that present a threat because they are characteristically toxic, corrosive, ignitable, explosive, or chemically reactive. Based on these definitions, hog manure is neither toxic nor hazardous. When manure decomposes, it produces ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, as well as a variety of organic compounds. These compounds, many of which are nutrients necessary for plant growth, are also produced through decomposition processes in natural wetlands and all of them occur throughout the environment as a result of various natural processes. Compounds in hog manure–like the compounds in a compost pile–are easily broken down into various nutrient sources for plant uptake. Because hog manure contains onl
