Developing Testing Protocols to Investigate Potential Adulteration of Fertilizer Materials Used in Organic Agriculture.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013: 2:10 PM
Marriott Tampa Waterside, Grand Ballroom H, Second Level
Fungai N.D. Mukome1, Timothy A. Doane2, Lucas C.R. Silva3, Sanjai J. Parikh1 and William R. Horwath4, (1)Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA (2)LAWR, UC Davis, Davis, CA (3)Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA (4)Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California Davis, Davis, CA
There is a pressing demand for methodology to validate claims of fertilizers labeled “suitable for organic production” in order to confirm their authenticity. A standard and vigorous protocol to address this urgent need will bring transparency and authentication to the array of organic fertilizer products on the market. In this study, the development of a potential systematic protocol that can be used by test laboratories and regulatory agencies to detect adulteration of organic fertilizers and soil amendments with synthetic nitrogen source is explained. By conducting a comprehensive literature review and analysis of 180 commercially available raw materials, organic fertilizers, soil amendments, and synthetic fertilizers, a comprehensive database of quantifiable properties has been compiled. In the developed protocol, ammonium content, C/N, δ15N stable isotope ratio and spectroscopic techniques were selected due to their effectiveness in identifying potential adulteration. A robust protocol of these metrics is presented for use by test labs and regulatory agencies for detection of adulterants in organic fertilizer.