does anyone know where i can get information about hair as a fertilizer?

Question

Hi everybody, i am into a research right now about human as a fertilizer. Does anyone know where i can get some information about it?

Thanks in advance..

Answer 1

Here's a source from the United Nations University, demonstrates that hair was traditionally used in China for fertilizer:
http://www.ias.unu.edu/proceedings/icibs/ecosan/luo-02.html

From the BBC: "Hair is good for the garden. Hoof, hair and horn, they always used to say, were all very good. Hair is full of protein and keratin. Just make sure it's all short lengths, and mix it in well. Long locks and big clumps will take longer to decompose."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/gqt/fsheets/25_08_02/fsheetsq1.shtml

Hair is compostable & it's a source of nitrogen:
"Some organic gardeners use it as an organic fertilizer as a reasonably good
nitrogen source." Peter Faletra Ph.D. (Office of Science Department of Energy)
Hair is largely made up of keratin, a
protein. Proteins are made up of amino acids, which consist primarily of
carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen atoms linked together.
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen01/gen01045.htm

"Six to seven pounds of hair contain one pound of nitrogen, or about the same amount of nitrogen as 100 to 200 pounds of cow manure."
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/1978-07-01/Profiles-In-Celebration-of-Little-known-MOTHER-type-folks-from-all-over.aspx

Good Luck! Hope this is helpful.

Answer 2

Hair doesn't decay well enough to act as a fertilizer. However, many people swear by using it in flower beds to help deter animals from eating/digging up the plants.

The biggest human source of fertilizer, besides composting veggie scraps from making meals, tends to be sewage sludge processed by waste water treatment plants. (Which I would never use on veggies myself).

Generally human or animal wastes carry too much disease to be beneficial as a fertilizer and must be treated at high temperatures to make safe. There are exceptions, mostly based on how long application is before planting.

Answer 3

Hair is mostly 'keratin`, a protein more insoluble
than most.
It would not work well as a fertilizer.
As with most animal products, you'd have to feed it to
some other organism that eats it and produces soluble
waste for it to be accessible to plants.