After having ascertained the quantity of fecal matter dumped on the Indian soil day in and day out, I was wondering how much of toxic gases would be emanating from the night soil into the atmosphere. Getting the basic data took some time, till I bumped on this research paper : Toxic gaseous substances liberated by human feces during storage by VV Kustov et al.
Based on my earlier findings, I worked out the amount of toxic gases and the quantum of dead and living bacteria and fungi in fecal matter left in the open.
My figures of fecal matter dumped on the Indian soil have been worked out under the assumption that an average Indian adult defecates 175 gms daily. For the purpose of arriving at the figures I have taken into account the quantum of fecal matter dumped because of open defecation by 54% of the population, fecal matter dumped on rail tracks by the Indian trains and also to some extent the open defecation by travelers on road and by pilgrims. The figure comes to a whopping 4,09,41,632 metric tonnes/year of fecal matter.
Toxic gases released into the environment:
1) Ammonia and Aliphatic amines: 68.37 tonnes
2) Mercaptans and hydrogen sulphides: only traces
3) Phenols: 7.79 tonnes
4) Indole and Skatole: 1.29 tonnes
5) Fatty Acids : 43.81 tonnes
6) Oxides of Nitrogen calculated as N2O5: 99.08 tonnes
7) Hydrocarbons calculated as CH4: 442.57 tonnes
8) Oxides of Carbon- As carbon mono oxide: 9.42 tonnes
9) Sulphur di oxide: 4.10 tonnes
Dead and living bacteria and fungi account for 25-30% of the dry weight of the feces (Kustov et al). The quantum of dead and living bacteria and fungi that spread out of the fecal matter dumped in the open works out to 30,41,374 tonnes/year.
In all, about 680 metric tonnes of greenhouse gases and non-greenhouse gases are spewed out into the open and 30,41,374 tonnes of dead and living bacteria and fungi are spread out of the night soil left in the open in a year on Indian soil & atmosphere due to open defecation and dumping of feces on railway tracks and roads.
Based on my earlier findings, I worked out the amount of toxic gases and the quantum of dead and living bacteria and fungi in fecal matter left in the open.
My figures of fecal matter dumped on the Indian soil have been worked out under the assumption that an average Indian adult defecates 175 gms daily. For the purpose of arriving at the figures I have taken into account the quantum of fecal matter dumped because of open defecation by 54% of the population, fecal matter dumped on rail tracks by the Indian trains and also to some extent the open defecation by travelers on road and by pilgrims. The figure comes to a whopping 4,09,41,632 metric tonnes/year of fecal matter.
Toxic gases released into the environment:
1) Ammonia and Aliphatic amines: 68.37 tonnes
2) Mercaptans and hydrogen sulphides: only traces
3) Phenols: 7.79 tonnes
4) Indole and Skatole: 1.29 tonnes
5) Fatty Acids : 43.81 tonnes
6) Oxides of Nitrogen calculated as N2O5: 99.08 tonnes
7) Hydrocarbons calculated as CH4: 442.57 tonnes
8) Oxides of Carbon- As carbon mono oxide: 9.42 tonnes
9) Sulphur di oxide: 4.10 tonnes
Dead and living bacteria and fungi account for 25-30% of the dry weight of the feces (Kustov et al). The quantum of dead and living bacteria and fungi that spread out of the fecal matter dumped in the open works out to 30,41,374 tonnes/year.
In all, about 680 metric tonnes of greenhouse gases and non-greenhouse gases are spewed out into the open and 30,41,374 tonnes of dead and living bacteria and fungi are spread out of the night soil left in the open in a year on Indian soil & atmosphere due to open defecation and dumping of feces on railway tracks and roads.
These figures should sound alarming to many of us. Some may question the veracity of the data or the calculations. They are again free to arrive at their own conclusions. All said and done the fact remains that the menace of open defecation has to be stopped at any cost.
Today we are gifted with a plethora of innovations by way of advancement of technology. We have to find out ways and means of judiciously harnessing fecal matter as the raw material for production of our future energy.
P.Uday Shankar.
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