Effects of composting process on the dissipation of extractable sulfonamides in swine manure

•Half-lives of sulfonamides were less than 3 days in swine manure composting.•SAs’ dissipations during composting process were slightly delayed by 2000 mg/kg Cu.•Declines of extractable SAs in the manure–straw mixtures were temperature dependent.•SAs’ dissipations were more affected by temperature than Cu-coexistence.

Effects of composting on the fate of sulfonamides (SAs) in the manure–straw mixture were explored through a simulation of aerobic composting process. Additionally, factors of temperature and coexistence of heavy metal Cu that might influence the removal efficiency were particularly investigated. As shown in the results, the extractable SAs dissipated rapidly during the composting process. The coexistence of Cu in the composting process might have delayed the decline of SAs, but the drugs could still be completely removed by the end of the composting. In contrast to the thermophilic aerobic composting, extractable SAs in air-temperature-placed mixture dissipated much slower and 1.12–1.56 mg/kg could be detected after 35 days of incubation. The results confirmed that temperature could influence the dissipation of SAs, which was identified as a more important factor than Cu-coexistence. Hence, thermophilic aerobic composting is an effective process to eliminate VAs before manure land application.