Parasitological assessment of organic fertilizers used in agriculture in Poland

Abstract

The sanitary safety of organic fertilizers used inagriculture is essential for the protection of public health. The aim of the research was to assess the parasitological contamination of organic fertilizers applying for admission to trading in Poland in 2018–2020. The research material consisted of 513 samples of organic fertilizers. The samples were tested with our own accredited methods. Live eggs of parasites of the genus Ascaris, Toxocara or Trichuris were found in a total of 119 samples (23.2%), including 37 samples from biogas plants, which constitutes 33.3% of contaminated samples of this type, 59 samples of fertilizers based on sewage sludge (42.0%) and 23 samples of other organic fertilizers (9.3%) from fertilizer productionplants. The most contaminated with parasite eggswere samples from municipal sewage treatmentplants and biogas plants. Live Ascaris spp. Eggswere found in 78 samples, 53 samples of Trichurisspp. Eggs, and 48 samples of Toxocara spp. Thetotal number of parasite eggs in these samplesranged from 300 to 750,000 eggs per kg DM.samples. The eggs of the genus Ascaris andToxocara were the most numerous. The lowestnumber of live eggs of intestinal parasites wasfound in the samples of other organic fertilizers. The obtained results indicate the necessity to conduct parasitological tests of organic fertilizers before placing them on the market in order to eliminate potential threats to the environment and human and animal health.