[Digestion] C. botulinum

[Paul Harris]

G’day All,

 

I was sent the item below from another discussion group and have permission
to disseminate it here – it may help in the thinking about “Negative Press”.

 

Happy Digesting,

HOOROO

 

Mr. Paul Harris, Room S116b, Waite Main Building Faculty of Sciences, The
University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, PMB 1, Glen Osmond SA 5064 Ph    : +61
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http://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/paul.harris

 

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On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 5:48 AM, heinzpetermang
<heinz-peter at worldtoiletcollege.org> wrote:

Dear all,

I followed the discussion with great interest, and I am really surprised
about a non-proofed sentence from Prof. Ralph Otterpohl as:

"This makes biogas plants a clear risk technology for a very very severe
illness."

This discussion has already happened in the Biogas Scene between 2004 and
2009, and again inside GIZ initiated by Prof. Helge Boehnel in 2006, and
again in 2008.

Prof. Monika Krueger (University of Leipzig) and Prof. Helge Boehnel
(University of Goettingen) are publishing since 10 years in various articles
the opinion that fermentation residues from biogas plants present a
significant hazard potential; poisoning of animals and humans may be caused
by the toxins of C. perfringens and C. botulinum. In particular, C.
botulinum is known for the formation of toxic poison under certain
circumstances (botulism). Both scientists recommend the permanent control of
the digestate for the presence of pathogenic organisms, especially since
these also are generated by the multiplication of bacteria during
fermentation and storage of the digestate.

But C. botulinum is part of the soil degradation process bacteria. During
each anaerobic degradation process of organic material, amino acids are
degraded pairwise by Clostridium botulinum (BOTOX) using the "Stickland
reaction" in which one amino acid serves as a hydrogen donor and the other
as acceptor, resulting in acetate, ammonia, and CO2. During the splitting of
cysteine, hydrogen sulphide is released.

1988: Already in September 1988, in the "Design Manual for Constructed
Wetlands and Aquatic Plant Systems for Municipal Wastewater Treatment" of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency it is written that "Wildlife may be
affected by wetlands systems because anaerobic muds may contain the
causative organism of avian botulism (Clostridium botulinum). Control of
this wildlife pathogen can be accomplished largely by multiple dispersion
points for free water surface (FWS) wetlands. This pathogen is not a problem
for wild fowl in subsurface flow system (SFS) wetlands or aquatic plant
systems." 

Does this make FWS wetlands a clear risk technology for a very very severe
illness?

2002: In the UK-Risk Assessment: Use of Composting and Biogas Treatment to
Dispose of Catering Waste Containing Meat, of the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, from May 2002, is recommended that a
warning label is put on bio-waste compost sold for home use to ensure
infants under 6 months are kept away, even they found that the "estimated"
spore loading in compost is lower than for some soils in The Netherlands." 

Does this make composting a clear risk technology for a very very severe
illness?

2006: In the IWAS Journal Water Health 04 (2006) 277-288,
http://www.iwaponline.com/jwh/004/0277/0040277.pdf an article about
"Watershed issues associated with Clostridium botulinum: A literature
review", from Sharon C. Long and Tiffany Tauscher, reviewed aspects of
naturally occurring C. botulinum in light of concerns for source water
watersheds. C. botulinum has been detected in raw water storage areas, trout
farms, fish and environmental samples from coastal area, dust, wetland
sediments and other sources. A number of incidents of detection of the
different types of C. botulinum in varying environments around the globe are
analysed. Soils and dusts have often been cited as a significant reservoir
of C. botulinum. Serious outbreaks of botulism have occurred in beef cattle
that were fed chicken litter. In The Netherlands, botulism has occurred in
cattle that were fed wet brewer's grains. In another case C. botulinum type
spores were found in bales of round bale barley haylage that were fed to
cattle. Haylage harvested green and encased in black plastic bags to
facilitate lacto-fermentation, was presumably contaminated by the botulinum
toxin when fermentation failed to produce enough acid to lower the pH to
4.5, the pH below which C. botulinum growth is inhibited. Thus, hay
fermentation presents a potential problem for farmers who use round hay
balers to produce haylage. 

Does this make haylage in round plastic packed bales a clear risk technology
for a very very severe illness?

2009: In the « Evaluation du programme latrine Medair à Madagascar », August
2009, WASTE NL and Practica Foundation, C. botulinum have been identified in
the faeces of urine diversion toilets as part of the GRAM-positive bacteria
package. 

Does this make UDDTs a clear risk technology for a very very severe illness?

When canning food it is important to completely control the botulinum
bacteria, because if these bacteria survive and grow inside a sealed jar of
food, they can produce the poisonous toxin. Even tasting of food containing
this toxin can be fatal. Whether food should be processed in a pressure
canner or boiling water canner depends on the acidity of the food. Acidity
may be natural, as in most fruits, or added. Low-acid (pH>4.6) canned foods
contain too little acidity to prevent the growth of the botulinum bacteria,
while acid foods (pH<4.6) contain enough acid to block their growth or
destroy them more rapidly when heated. Fruits are acid foods, but vegetables
are not. Therefore they should be acidified with lemon juice, citric acid or
vinegar. If low acid foods are not acidified, the processing in boiling
water is not recommended.

Does this make canned fruits a clear risk technology for a very very severe
illness?

Already based on German research data collected before November 2005 it
could be stated that no cross-contamination of botulism from infected
animals through digestate to animal fodder was detected in Germany. Also the
German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) published in a statement
the fact that the occurrence of symptoms caused 'visceral botulism' by the
interaction of 4 important factors is determined:

1. Clostridiums are increased in the environment by over-fertilization with
manure or poultry litter

2. Increased incidence of the disease in high-yielding cattle with unstable
immune system

3. Poor nutrition of high-yielding cattle (rarely ruminant fair, too low
fibre content) 

4. Poor feeding hygiene (poor hygienic quality of silage, etc.) 

In addition, the department "cattle diseases" of the German Veterinary
Society (DVG) published in a statement already 2006 the fact that C.
botulinum is almost everywhere common, and could be occasionally
demonstrated in the gastrointestinal tract of completely healthy cattle. The
clinical pictures of the "visceral Botulismus" could also be caused by many
other factors than by C. botulinum, namely unfavourable feeding and housing
conditions, metabolic disorders or other infectious diseases.

Industrially processed, vacuum-packaged, hotsmoked salmanoids have been
responsible for a cluster of outbreaks in northern Europe. The consumers'
demand for reduced use of sodium salts and the vacuum packaging used to
prolong shelf lives have apparently created high-risk botulinogenic products
that are largely dependent on refrigeration for safety. 

It appears that C. botulinum spores naturally occur in soils and sediments
with specific strains predominating in different geographical regions.
However, considering current source water protection practices in the U.S.,
threats of waterborne botulism outbreaks among human populations is low.
Threats of forage botulism can be minimized by education of farmers
regarding hay and feed management practices. Threats to source waters from
wildlife outbreaks can be minimized by proper detection and carcass
management when avian and fish outbreaks occur. Conventional treatment
processes have been demonstrated to be adequately effective at removing
Clostridium spores from drinking water.

IRDCurrents No.13 and 14 from July 1997, edited by the Department of Rural
Development Studies of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in
UPPSALA, and financed by Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation
Agency) published by René Sansoucy on page 8: "Biodigestion has positive
public health aspects, particularly where toilets are coupled with the
biodigester, and the anaerobic conditions kill pathogenic organisms as well
as digesting toxins, for example, botulinum toxin."

Research work about "Biotic and abiotic components from effluents of
anaerobic plants with a potential risks for water protection areas",
published in February 2010 by Dr. W. Philipp, Institut für Umwelt- und
Tierhygiene, Universität Hohenheim, Stuttgart shows that anaerobic digestion
does not increase, but reduce usually accomplished by good anaerobic process
management. This finding is not, however directly for C. botulinum, because
C. perfringens has been used for the test, and C. botulinum may be
different. 

The Federal Agricultural Research Centre under the leadership of Prof.
Weiland conducted appropriate investigations in June 2007 on C. botulinum in
substrates and fermentation residues of biogas plants: The data do not
indicate any increase in pathogen load in digestate. During the fermentation
no pathogenic clostridia or close relatives of the C. could be characterized
as C. botulinum. Also during the fermentation of cattle manure in biogas
plants, the amount of available clostridia had been reduced. (Published from
the German Biogas Association in May 2010: "Informationen über Clostridium
botulinum")

Of course for precautionary reasons, the concentration of C. botulinum in
the environment should not be increased. Therefore it would be appropriate
to conduct quantitative research in bio-compost, faecal compost, dry faeces,
and digestate in connection with investigations of the impacted soil to
determine a possible longer-term increase of concentration in the soil. Also
interesting would be the possible survival of C. botulinum spores on
grassland after application with naturally contaminated compost and / or
fermentation residues and their possible transition to the plants in
experience.

As long as potentially contaminated feedstock is crushed and heated to
133°C/3bar/20 one can be sure that C. botulinum spores are not surviving the
composting or anaerobic reactor, and thus the discussion of possible high
swings in biogas would be obsolete. Critical substrates are mainly chicken
manure and chicken litter.

Summarizing it should be clearly stated that the discussion about C.
botulinum in Germany and the EU is pushed to a political level by some
circles, but the recycling of organic waste and other bio-degradable waste
materials will not be stopped, at least not in foreseeable future. 

Heinz-Peter Mang, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Centre for
Sustainable Environmental Sanitation

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