Bone meal is a mixture of finely and coarsely ground animal

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

s and slaughter-house waste products. It is used as a dietary supplement to supply

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar t ...

(Ca) and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

(P) to monogastric livestock in the form of hydroxiapathite. As a slow-release organic fertilizer, it supplies phosphorus, calcium, and a small amount of nitrogen to plants.

Uses

Dietary supplement

Bone meal, along with a variety of other meals, especially meat meal, is used as a dietary/mineral supplement for

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

. The improper application of bone and meat meal products in animal nutrition can contribute to the spread of

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a group of progressive and fatal conditions that are associated with prions and affect the brain and nervous system of many animals, including humans, cattle, and sheep. According to the most ...

, commonly known in cattle as

Mad Cow Disease Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and invariably fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of t ...

. Proper heat control can reduce salmonella contaminants. Bone meal was historically used as a human dietary calcium supplement. Research has shown that calcium and lead in their ionic forms (Ca²⁺, Pb²⁺) have similar atomic structures and so create a potential for accumulation of lead in bones. American Actress Allison Hayes was poisoned in the 1970s with a calcium supplement made from horse bone containing high amounts of lead, which moved the EPA to develop more stringent importation rules. Additionally, research conducted on chicken bone broth based foods in 2013 showed they contained an order of magnitude more lead than tap water.

Fertilizer

Bone meal provides phosphorus and calcium to plants, along with a largely inconsequential amount of nitrogen. The N-P-K rating of bone meal is typically 3-15-0 along with a calcium content of around 12% (18% CaO equiv.), although it can vary quite a bit depending on the source from 1-13-0 to 3-22-0. As bone meal is water-insoluble, it needs to be broken down before the plant can absorb it, either by soil acidity or by microbial activity producing acids. According to the Colorado State University, it can only be broken down in

acidic soil Soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of a soil. Soil pH is a key characteristic that can be used to make informative analysis both qualitative and quantitatively regarding soil characteristics. pH is defined as the n ...

(pH < 7.0) and releases its nutrients over a span of 1 to 4 months.

History

The process was first suggested by Justus von Liebig (dissolving animal bones in sulphuric acid) around 1840 and first used in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

by Rev James Robertson in

Ellon, Aberdeenshire Ellon ( gd, Eilean) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately north of Aberdeen, lying on the River Ythan, which has one of the few undeveloped river estuaries on the eastern coast of Scotland. It is in the ancient region of Formart ...

in 1841. Before Liebig, the expansion of agriculture had depleted the soil of essential nutrients. In desperation, farmers collected the bones from major battlefields like the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

and the

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz i ...

to crush them and refertilize the soil. In 19th century Europe, large scale production and international trade in bone meal was seen as essential for agricultural development.

References

{{Authority control Soil improvers

Meal A meal is an eating occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes consumption of food. The names used for specific meals in English vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal. Although they c ...

Organic fertilizers Animal products

Uses

Dietary supplement

Fertilizer

History

See also

References