Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2016 Nov;23(22):23195-23202. doi: 10.1007/s11356-016-7528-x. Epub 2016 Sep 7.
Vermicomposting (VC) has proven to be a promising method for treating garden, household, and municipal wastes. Although the VC has been used extensively for converting wastes into fertilizers, pathogens such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) survival during this process is not well documented. In this study, both lab and field scale experiments were conducted assessing the impacts of earthworms in reducing E. coli concentration during VC of food waste. In addition, other pertinent parameters such as temperature, carbon and nitrogen content, moisture content, pH, volatile solids, micronutrients (P, K, Ca, Mg, and S), and heavy metals (Zn, Mn, Fe, and Cu) were monitored during the study. The lab and field scale experiments were conducted for 107 and 103 days, respectively. The carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) decreased by 54 % in the lab scale study and by 36 % in the field study. Results showed that VC was not significantly effective in reducing E. coli levels in food waste under both lab and field scale settings. The carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) decreased by 54 % in the lab scale study and by 36 % in the field study.
堆肥（VC）已被证明是处理花园、家庭和城市废物的一种很有前途的方法。虽然 VC 已被广泛用于将废物转化为肥料，但在此过程中，大肠杆菌（E. coli）等病原体的存活情况并没有得到很好的记录。在这项研究中，进行了实验室和现场规模的实验，评估了蚯蚓在减少 VC 过程中食物废物中大肠杆菌浓度方面的影响。此外，在研究过程中还监测了其他相关参数，如温度、碳氮含量、含水量、pH 值、挥发性固体、微量元素（P、K、Ca、Mg 和 S）和重金属（Zn、Mn、Fe 和 Cu）。实验室和现场规模的实验分别进行了 107 天和 103 天。实验室研究中碳氮比（C/N）下降了 54%，野外研究中下降了 36%。结果表明，在实验室和现场规模的设置下，VC 对降低食物废物中的大肠杆菌水平均没有明显效果。实验室研究中碳氮比（C/N）下降了 54%，野外研究中下降了 36%。
