ISO 28901:2011

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 28901
First edition
2011-09-15
Soil quality — Guidance for burial of
animal carcasses to prevent epidemics
Qualité du sol — Lignes directrices pour l’enfouissement des carcasses
d’animaux pour éviter une épidémie
Reference number
©
ISO 2011
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ii © ISO 2011 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Objectives and constraints . 2
5 Planning of burial programme . 3
5.1 Time of burial . 3
5.2 Consideration of diseases and kind of animal carcasses infected . 3
5.3 Selection of burial site . 4
6 Construction of burial pit . 9
6.1 Preparation of the site . 9
6.2 Excavation of the burial site .10
6.3 Placement of lining materials and discharge pipes .10
6.4 Placing of carcasses in the burial pit . 11
6.5 Coverage of burial pit after finalization of placement of carcasses . 11
7 Maintenance after burial .12
7.1 Safety measures .12
7.2 Odour treatment .12
7.3 Gas discharge .12
7.4 Leachate treatment .12
7.5 Surface regrading .12
8 Monitoring .12
9 Reuse of burial sites .12
10 Report and record keeping .13
Annex A (informative) Examples of national specifications regarding burial of animal carcasses .14
Annex B (informative) Diseases listed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) .22
Annex C (informative) Examples of the design of protection layers for perforated drainage pipes .26
Bibliography .27
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards
adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an
International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO 28901 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 190, Soil quality, Subcommittee SC 7, Soil and
site assessment.
iv © ISO 2011 – All rights reserved

Introduction
The incidence of livestock epidemics such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), swine fever, foot and
mouth disease (FMD), Newcastle disease and avian influenza (AI) are becoming increasingly more frequent
and geographically widespread. These epidemics spread quickly across country borders due to rapid exchange
of people, animals and products between countries. Epidemics threaten the welfare of human beings through
secondary infection on other livestock, economic loss and public health. Preventing the spread of epidemics
to other areas where livestock are raised is the priority. However, when this fails and the epidemic has spread,
rapid and effective action should be taken to prevent the further spread of infection. Slaughter followed by
disposal of infected livestock is an essential means of preventing the spread of the epidemic.
Disposal methods for slaughtered livestock include: incineration, rendering, composting and burial. Burial is a
method that has long been used, as it is relatively economical and does not require specialized techniques or
equipment. However, it does have the potential to contaminate the receiving environment. Leachate from the
buried animal carcass can pollute the soil and the surrounding waters (groundwater and surface water), and
the gas caused by the decomposition of the carcass produces foul. Despite such drawbacks, burial continues
to be used widely, because it can limit the spread of an epidemic when massive amount of carcasses must
be disposed rapidly. The objectives of this International Standard are to curtail the spread of the disease, to
destroy the causative agents, and to dispose of the carcasses by burial.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 28901:2011(E)
Soil quality — Guidance for burial of animal carcasses to
prevent epidemics
1 Scope
This International Standard provides guidance on environment-friendly burial methods of animal carcasses to prevent
epidemics, to curtail the spread of the disease, to destroy the causative agents, and to dispose of the carcasses.
This International Standard does not apply to the burial of animal carcasses resulting from natural death
or by accident.
Other methods of disposal are outside the scope of this International Standard.
NOTE In some countries, infected animals or parts of animals cannot be buried on farms due to legislation but are
subject to handling by licensed commercial landfills or incinerations.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document
(including any amendments) applies.
ISO 10390, Soil quality — Determination of pH
ISO 10694, Soil quality — Determination of organic and total carbon after dry combustion (elementary analysis)
ISO 11260, Soil quality — Determination of effective cation exchange capacity and base saturation level using
barium chloride solution
ISO 11272, Soil quality — Determination of dry bulk density
ISO 11277, Soil quality — Determination of particle size distribution in mineral soil material — Method by
sieving and sedimentation
ISO 13536, Soil quality — Determination of the potential cation exchange capacity and exchangeable cations
using barium chloride solution buffered at pH = 8,1
ISO 14688-2:2004, Geotechnical investigation and testing — Identification and classification of soil — Part 2:
Principles for a classification
ISO 25177, Soil quality — Field soil description
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
affected animal
animal which has been infectious or is at present infectious or is suspected of soon becoming infectious and
which is to be killed to prevent epidemics
3.2
animal carcass
dead body of an animal or parts thereof, or products of animal origin
NOTE Animal excreta are included in this definition.
3.3
burial
act of burying an animal carcass
3.4
discharge
action of releasing a substance such as a liquid or gas; a substance that is expelled from a defined area or location
3.5
disposal
collective noun for any operation to remove and discard waste
3.6
epidemic
large number of cases of a particular disease, usually infectious, occurring at the same time in a particular community
3.7
infectious waste
substance containing viable microorganisms or their toxins which is known or reliably believed to cause disease
in man or other living organisms
[EN 13965-1:2004]
3.8
leachate
liquid percolated through a soil and containing substances in solution or suspension
3.9
livestock
domesticated animals, usually kept on a farm
EXAMPLES Cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, chickens.
3.10
permeability
measure of the ease with which gases, liquids, or plant roots penetrate or pass through a bulk mass of soil
3.11
quicklime
liming material consisting mainly of calcium oxide or a mixture of calcium oxide and possibly magnesium oxide,
produced by the calcination of limestone, magnesian limestone or dolomitic limestone
[EN 12944-3:2001]
3.12
soil texture
relative proportions of the various particle size fractions (i.e. sand, silt, clay) in a soil according to a soil
classification system
3.13
wildlife animal
all non-domesticated animals
EXAMPLES Deer, wild boar, rodents.
4 Objectives and constraints
In the event of an epidemic in which an infectious disease either kills animals directly or causes them to be
killed, urgent action is required to
— curtail the spread of the disease,
2 © ISO 2011 – All rights reserved

— destroy the causative agents,
— rehabilitate those persons affected by the epidemic,
— return the land to profitable agriculture or other use,
— dispose of the carcasses, and
— dispose of excreta and other obnoxious material.
Four factors will constrain the work:
a) The need for urgency arises because there will be a multiplicity of pathways by which the causative agents
can be transmitted from live or dead animals within the area affected to animals in remote locations. The
causative agent can be spread by birds, other wildlife, or transported by wind or wind-blown dust, and
water. All of these mechanisms are difficult to control.
b) In an attempt to arrest some of these pathways, the site shall be quarantined, with movements of people
and other animals onsite and offsite being minimized, controlled and disinfected.
c) As a consequence, the work shall be constrained by what is in hand or can readily be obtained.
d) Further adaptation should be made to suit local ground conditions.
The number of animals involved shall also be considered.
NOTE For example, in one small outbreak in 2007, over 350 cattle were slaughtered on one day, and 800 pigs and
50 more cattle were slaughtered on the following day.
5 Planning of burial programme
5.1 Time of burial
Carcasses should be buried as soon as possible after their death. However, it should be noted that postmortem
livestock will gas up and increase volume by up to half. Therefore, if they are placed in a burial pit too soon and
covered over, the carcasses will subsequently rapidly degas, causing large voids to form and causing cracking
of cover material. Therefore, either the stock should not be covered immediately or the carcasses should be
pierced to prevent them gassing up.
Once buried, decomposition and degradation processes will intensify after 24 h to 72 h (depending on the
ambient temperature), which will pose additional threats t
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