Antibiotic use in cows and carbon emissions

 


Long-term exposure to manure from cows administered with antibiotics can change soil micro-biome and decrease their ability to store carbon.

It also affects soil respiration and elemental cycling. The exposure also caused changes in the soil's fungal and bacterial ratios as well as altered the bacterial community structure.

The use of antibiotics in the livestock sector is widespread — they are used to boost animal growth and treat infection. These account for around 80 per cent of the consumption of medically important antibiotics in some countries. Globally, the use of antibiotics in livestock is estimated to spike by 67 per cent by 2030.

“There’s no environment on Earth that is free from the effects of antibiotics,”.

Soil is a major source of carbon sink. Plants soak up carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, while making their food, and store it in the soil. 

If the volume of the carbon in the soil is more then it is released back into the atmosphere, soils can counter the greenhouse gas emissions.

A recent study showed that carbon in soils exposed to manure from cows administered with antibiotics, “travelled into the above-ground plant material, to the roots of the plants, into the soil and respired back out as CO2 much faster than any of the others”.

“This means that when antibiotics are used, less carbon is stored in the soil and more is lost to the atmosphere as CO2”.

Overuse of antibiotics has become a major problem for humans as bacteria have become increasingly resistant to the drugs. The study showed that “antibiotic use also has environmental effects”.

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