PMID- 20003550
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20100514
LR  - 20211020
IS  - 1476-069X (Electronic)
IS  - 1476-069X (Linking)
VI  - 8
DP  - 2009 Dec 16
TI  - Survival of Ascaris eggs and hygienic quality of human excreta in Vietnamese 
      composting latrines.
PG  - 57
LID - 10.1186/1476-069X-8-57 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: For centuries farmers in Vietnam have fertilized their fields with 
      human excreta collected directly from their household latrines. Contrary to the 
      official guideline of six-month storage, the households usually only store human 
      excreta for three to four months before use, since this is the length of time 
      that farmers have available to produce fertilizer between two cropping seasons. 
      This study aimed to investigate whether hygienically safe fertilizer could be 
      produced in the latrines within this period of time. METHODS: By inoculating eggs 
      of the helminth parasite indicator Ascaris suum into heaps of human excreta, a 
      die-off experiment was conducted under conditions similar to those commonly used 
      in Vietnamese latrines. Half a ton of human excreta was divided into five heaps 
      containing increasing concentrations of lime from 0% to 11%. RESULTS: Regardless 
      of the starting pH, which varied from 9.4 to 11.6, a >99% die-off of eggs was 
      obtained after 105 to 117 days of storage for all lime concentrations and 97% of 
      eggs were non-viable after 88 days of storage. The most critical parameter found 
      to determine the die-off process was the amount of ammonia (urine) in the excreta 
      which indicates that longer storage periods are needed for parasite egg die-off 
      if urine is separated from the excreta. CONCLUSION: By inactivating >99% of all 
      A. suum eggs in human excreta during a storage period of only three months the 
      commonly used Double Vault Composting (DVC) latrine, in which urine is not 
      separated, could therefore potentially provide a hygienic acceptable fertilizer.
FAU - Jensen, Peter K M
AU  - Jensen PK
AD  - Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of 
      Health, University of Copenhagen, Oster Farimagsgade 5, PO Box 2099, 1014 
      Copenhagen K, Denmark. petkj@sund.ku.dk
FAU - Phuc, Pham D
AU  - Phuc PD
FAU - Konradsen, Flemming
AU  - Konradsen F
FAU - Klank, Lise T
AU  - Klank LT
FAU - Dalsgaard, Anders
AU  - Dalsgaard A
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20091216
PL  - England
TA  - Environ Health
JT  - Environmental health : a global access science source
JID - 101147645
RN  - 0 (Fertilizers)
RN  - 0 (Soil)
SB  - IM
MH  - Agriculture
MH  - Animals
MH  - Ascaris suum/*isolation & purification
MH  - Feces/parasitology
MH  - Fertilizers/*parasitology
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Parasite Egg Count
MH  - Soil/*analysis
MH  - Time Factors
MH  - Toilet Facilities/*standards
MH  - Vietnam
MH  - Waste Management/*methods/standards
PMC - PMC2804663
EDAT- 2009/12/17 06:00
MHDA- 2010/05/15 06:00
PMCR- 2009/12/16
CRDT- 2009/12/17 06:00
PHST- 2009/06/26 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2009/12/16 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2009/12/17 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2009/12/17 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2010/05/15 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2009/12/16 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 1476-069X-8-57 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/1476-069X-8-57 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Environ Health. 2009 Dec 16;8:57. doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-8-57.