In this study, we analyzed the changes in concentrations of volatile fatty acids (VFA), phenols, and indoles, as well as odor contribution in pig slurry. The pig slurry was stored for approximately two months after the manure excretion of pigs which had been fed 3% level of peat moss additive. The investigation was carried out through lab-scale experiments simulating slurry pit conditions within pig house. Throughout the storage period, the concentration of VFA exhibited a tendency to be 11%-32% higher in the pig manure treated with peat moss as compared to the control group. From a concentration perspective, phenol and acetic acid accounted for the majority of the total odor compounds produced during the pig slurry storage period. However, their significance diminished when the concentration of odoros compounds are converted into odor activity value and odor contribution. Despite the odor reduction effect of the ammonia (NH3) adsorption by peat moss, if it cannot effectively reduce the high odor-contributing compounds such as indoles and p-cresol, the sole use of peat moss may not be considered an effective means of mitigating odors produced by pig slurry. According to this study, indoles, p-cresol, skatole, and valeric acid were consistently revealed as major odor-contributing substances during the two-month storage of pig slurry. Therefore, a comprehensive odor mitigation methodology should be proposed, taking into consideration the odor generation characteristics (including temporal concentration and odor contribution) of pig slurry-derived odors during storage.

A rapid and simple method for the quantitative determination of volatile fatty acids (VFAs; propionic acid, n-butyric acid, i-valeric acid and n-valeric acid) and indoles (phenol, p-cresol, 4-ethyl phenol, indole and skatole) in pig slurry and dog excrement using solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography was evaluated. 50/30 ㎛ DVB/CAR/PDMS (Divinylbenzene/Carboxen/Polydimethylsiloxane) fiber was used to extract the target compounds in aqueous media. Sample amount and adsorption time was standardized for the routine analysis. Detection limits were from 0.11 to 0.15 ㎍/L for VFAs and from 0.12 to 0.28 ㎍/L for indoles and the correlations observed (R2) were 0.975～1.000. This method was applied to the pig slurry, fertilizer, compost and dog excrement. In nearly all cases, the indoles were detected in concentrations of higher than their limits of detection (DOLs). But the VFAs in swine manure were below their DOLs.

The purpose of this study is to compare the sampling methods for monitoring indoles (phenol, p-cresol, indole and skatole) in airs of swine facility. As the collecting methods of indoles in air, Tenax-TA adsorption tube and solid phase microextraction (SPME) were examined. For the preparation of calibration curves of indoles concentrated in Tenax-TA, the standard indoles solutions were spiked in each of Tenax-TA tubes and thermally desorbed (ATD) into a gas chromatograph combined with mass detector (GC/MS). And for the preparation of calibration curves by SPME, indoles in the standard gaseous solution prepared by evaporating the aqueous solution that contained indoles into a polyester sampling bag were extracted with SPME fiber and subsequently analyzed by the GC/MS. Two sampling methods were evaluated for extracting indoles present in swine building environments. Results indicated that the SPME method using Polydimethylsiloxane/ Divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) fiber was more effective than Tenax-TA method in extracting indoles. The gas chromatographic analysis showed that the linearities of calibration curves and detection limits were useful for detection of indoles in swine airs. The field tests also showed that considerably different levels of indoles were present in various parts of the swine building.