Agriculture runoff

Table 3. Pollution from Urban and Agricultural Runoff...

Although NOT is not usually thought of as a "toxic" chemical, it does cause several health problems including methemoglobinemia in infants (blue-baby syndrome) and may also be linked to stomach cancer. Agricultural runoff can lead to significant, potentially harmful, concentrations of NOT in ground or surface water. 

Willis GH, McDowell LL. 1982. Pesticides in agricultural runoff and their effects on downstream water quality. Environ Toxicol Chem 1 267-279. 

The Agricultural Runoff Management (ARM) Model, developed by Hydrocomp Inc. for the U.S.EPA (2 ). It simulates the hydrology, sediment yield, and nutrient and pesticide behavior of the land phase of the hydrological cycle. The same organizations also developed the Non-Point Source (NPS) Model (3) which handles the washoff of miscellaneous pollutants from land surfaces. 

N.H. Crawford. Agricultural Runoff Management (ARM) Model Version II Refinement and Testing. Env. Res. Lab., Athens, Georgia. 1977. EPA600/3-77-098. 294 pages. 

Femandez-Alvarez R M, Carbalio-Cuervo S, de la Rosa-Jorge M C and Rodriguez-da Lecea J (1991), The influence of agricultural runoff on bacterial populations in a river , Journal of Applied Bacteriology, 70, 437-442. 

Riparian wetlands are effective though not infinite sinks for nitrate and phosphate from agricultural runoff. Strips of wetland a few tens of metres wide have been shown to remove the bulk of nitrate and phosphate entering in runoff and groundwater, though the limits to this under different circumstances are not well quantified (Baker and Malfby, 1995 Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). 

Source Agricultural runoff degradation of p,//-DDT (quoted, Verschueren, 1983). Uses Military product chemical research. 

Sharpley, A.N. (1993) An innovative approach to estimate bioavailable orthophosphate in agricultural runoff using iron oxide-impregnated paper. J. Environ. Qual. 22 597-601... 

Selenium Agricultural runoff toxic and carcinogenic ( ) to animals at higher levels 50 ppb... 

Water pollution results from a number of sources including agricultural runoff, erosion, industrial wastes, domestic wastes, and road runoff. Water pollution can be classified as either point source or nonpoint source. Point source pollution is emitted from a specific, well-defined location such as a pipe. Nonpoint sources refer to pollutants dispersed over a wide area from many different areas. A sewer pipe would be an example of a point source and fertilizer runoff from a field would represent nonpoint source pollution. 

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