It is well known that mixing and handling slurry can produce this toxic gas, which is invisible, although it smells like rotten eggs,” SAC spokesman Ken Rundle said: “An important feature is that when you get a good whiff of the gas, it knocks out your sense of smell, so you may be unaware that you are continuing to inhale it, and also be unaware of its concentration.
In a confined area it rapidly kills both cattle and humans by suffocation. It is also understood that adding silage effluent to slurry increases the risk as the nutrients in the effluent feed the bacteria in the slurry which are responsible for producing the hydrogen sulphide gas.
Symptoms of exposure to lower concentrations include eye irritation, a sore throat and cough, nausea, shortness of breath, and fluid in the lungs, and long-term, low-level exposure may result in fatigue, loss of appetite, headaches, irritability, poor memory, and dizziness.