Rapid and continuous monitoring of air ammonia concentration in dairy milking parlors

Ammonia is a source of environmental problems and impacts on human health. The largest release of ammonia in the environment is attributable to agriculture and especially to livestock activities. Besides atmospheric emissions, in livestock farms may occur also conditions of low indoor air quality. To reduce air ammonia emissions, it is necessary to adopt mitigation measures. To identify and apply the most appropriate, it is essential to: (i) know how structural and managerial characteristics influence emissions and (ii) quantify the emissions by using appropriate measurement instruments. The possibility of carrying out rapid, continuous and low cost measurements allows for a very useful reference framework in the various livestock contexts where emission sources are present. In this direction, a prototype device was tested to satisfy such needs. A first application was carried out in two different milking parlors for dairy cows, in three periods of the year. The prototype demonstrated good reliability for ammonia by detecting concentrations between 0.2-6.6 ppm and highlighting the great effect of ventilation on indoor air quality.