Abstract: A total of 224 animal manures and feeds,randomly sampled from different sizes of intensive farms in three northeastern provinces,were analyzed to determine Cu concentration.At the same time,the load of animal manure Cu on farmlands and loss to rivers in sewage irrigation areas of Liaoning Province was estimated.The results showed that the mean Cu concentrations in pig,cattle,and chicken feeds were 179.8,16.6 and 20.8 mg kg^-1 ,respectively.Cu concentrations in manures ranged from 1.5 to 1521.2 mg kg^-1 .The mean value of 642.1 mg kg^-1 in pig manure was higher than the mean values of 65.6 mg kg^-1 and 31.1 mg kg^-1 in chicken and cattle manures,respectively.The load of animal manure Cu on farmland in the study area ranged from 12.3-35.4 kg km^-2 annually.In particular,the Xiaolinghe area received a higher level than the other areas.The possible amount of manure Cu entering river water as a result of soil erosion was lower than 0.76 kg km^-2. The highest loss rates were found in the south of Anshan and the west of Jinzhou.It is suggested that animal manures contain a high level of Cu.Long-term agricultural application of animal manure may increase the potential risk of Cu pollution in soil and surface water.

Key words: animal manure, Cu, sewage irrigation area, agricultural application