Specified risk material

Specified risk material (SRM) is the cattle tissue that can harbour the infective agent known as a prion, which causes Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease.

More specifically, specified risk material is defined as “the skull, brain, trigeminal ganglia (nerves attached to the brain), eyes, tonsils, spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia (nerves attached to the spinal cord) of cattle aged 30 months or older; and the distal ileum (portion of the small intestine) of cattle of all ages”.

Specified risk material is regulated federally under the Health of Animals Act and Regulations, and strict handling and disposal procedures are required if specified risk material leaves the farm where the animals died. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has established a number of acceptable methods of disposing of specified risk material that will either permanently contain or destroy prions that may be present in specified risk material. 

Disposal methods and technologies

The links below provide additional information on acceptable SRM disposal methods and technologies.

• Economic Assessment of Combustion Technologies for Specified risk material Disposal in British Columbia (PDF)
• Specified Risk Material Containment and Destruction Options and Evaluations for the Fraser Valley (PDF)
• Slaughterhouse Waste and Specified Risk Material (SRM) Management Study - Final Report for Vancouver Island (PDF, 1.6MB)
• Testing of a Small-Scale Incinerator for Disposal of Slaughter Waste (PDF, 1.6MB)

Emissions testing reports

The following reports document the methods used, and results found, for duplicate emission tests conducted to provide emission information associated with an animal waste incinerator.

• Emissions Testing - Report 1 (PDF, 2.2MB)
• Emissions Testing - Report 2 (PDF)
• Emissions Testing - Report 3 (PDF, 2.3MB)
• Emissions Testing Refractory Assessment - Report 4 (PDF)