Pesticides and Fertilizers

Treatment of crops and/or soil with pesticides and fertilizers runoff or direct vertical leaching to septic tanks and cesspools... 

The Ebro catchment is the largest river basin in Spain. It covers an area of 85,362 km2 (http //www.chebro.es) and receives the potential influence of three million people. It suffers a considerable ecological impact from different industrial activities located predominantly in the last third of its course. These activities result on the release to the Ebro River and to some of its tributaries of Tm quantities of chlorinated organic compounds, PBDE and other brominated flame retardants, mercury, and other metals. In addition, intensive agricultural practices, mainly concentrated in the last 30 km of the river course and in its Delta, imply the use of large quantity of pesticides and fertilizers. In this paper, we review physiological effects of these pollutants in resident fish and shellfish populations and provide a general picture of the health status of the low course of the Ebro River. 

Compatibility with Compatible with most other pesticides and fertilizers when used at recommended rates. 

At present most of the pesticide and fertilizer storehouses are in a very bad condition. None of them answer to environmental and sanitary demands. Transportation, usage, distribution and storage of chemicals are not regulated. Hazardous chemicals are in sale everywhere - in the market, on the roads, in the boxes with food products, often without labeling. It is impossible to control chemicals. There is not a special waste disposal. 

It has been reported that in the UK the external costs of agriculture in 1996 amounted to a staggering 89% of the average net farm income (Pretty et al. 2000), that annual damage by pesticides and fertilizers to water quality is suspected to range in the billions of dollars (Doran et al. 1996) and that annual off-site damages from soil erosion by water in the USA are over US 7 billion (Pimentel et al. 1993). 

In this sense, pesticide and fertilizer use can undermine the goals of lawn care itself, impoverishing the soil and plant health required to maintain turf. This effect, known as the chemical treadmill, emerged vrith the dawn of the green revolution in agriculture in the 1960s. The term was coined to capture the frustrating cycle where increased use of inputs leads to increased demand of the... 

As described in Chapter 4, pesticide and fertilizer manufacturing is largely an outgrowth of mihtary technology developed during World War II. Discoveries in this field showed that pesticide production could be cost-effective, and... 

Potter, D. A. (1993). Pesticide and fertilizer effects on beneficial invertebrates and consequences for thatch degradation and pest outbreaks in turfgrass. ACS Symposium Series 522 331-343. 

A farmer spreads herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizer on her land, knowing the increase in crop value this practice will produce. During the next rain, some of those chemicals are washed away into the nearest lake, where they remain suspended for weeks or months. 

The water running off this farm field contains many pesticides and fertilizers that can be harmful to ecosystems and human health. 

St the beginning of this chapter, agriculture was defined as the organized use of resources for the production of food. Whether or not these resources—mainly topsoil and fresh water—will be available for future generations depends on how well we manage them now. We already know from experience that pesticides and fertilizers cannot be applied liberally without threatening both topsoil quality and our supplies of clean groundwater (not to mention the health of ourselves and the planet). 

Surface water can be contaminated by point or nonpoint sources. An effluent pipe from an industrial plant or a sewage-treatment plant is an example of a point source a field from which pesticides and fertilizers are carried by rainwater into a river is an example of a nonpoint source. Industrial wastes probably constitute the greatest single pollution problem in soil and water. These contaminants include organic wastes such as solvents, inorganic wastes, such as chromium and many unknown chemicals. Contamination of soil and water results when by-product chemicals are not properly disposed of or conserved. In addition industrial accidents may lead to severe local contamination. For a more in-depth discussion of sources and movements of water pollutants, see Chapter 27. 

Contamination of soil and water also results from the use of pesticides and fertilizers. Persistent pesticides applied directly to the soil have the potential to move from the soil into the water and thus enter the food chain from both soil and water. In a similar way... 

Yang, R.S.H. 1994. Toxicology of chemical mixtures derived from hazardous waste sites or application of pesticides and fertilizers. Pp. 99-117 in Toxicology of Chemical Mixtures Case Studies, Mechanisms, and Novel Approaches. San Diego, CA Academic Press. 

Hamilton, D. and G. Haydon (1997). Pesticide and fertilizer in the sugar industry Estimates of usage and likely environmental fate. 

Conventional farming, in contrast, could be described as better farming through chemistry, because many conventional farmers use synthetic pesticides and fertilizers... 

By the mid-1980s, the general situation was clear enough. The continuation of our present industrial civilization with its reliance on fossil fuels, extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers, and the resulting contaminants will lead eventually to collapse from exhaustion of resources (Meadows, 1972) (Fig. 15.2), and from the health and economic consequences of environmental pollution. There is controversy about the time at which a breakdown would be apparent, but it is clear to those who are conscious ofthe huge inertia in the industrial processes that are causing the trouble... 

Chemistry is everywhere, even in industries that do not seem chemical. Making a single electronic microcircuit, for example, involves nearly one hundred different chemical processes. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and even the sunlight that we used to bask in, all are affected by chemical processes that we understand better thanks to new research. We depend on synthetic materials in our homes and workplaces, and even in our clothing. Our society is built in large part on plastics and semiconductors. Many of the problems that we confront have causes that chemistry can elucidate. Many of the remedies that we apply to these problems are chemical remedies, which often, as in the agreement to phase out CFCs, involve political solutions too. Whether we like it or not, the present scale of food production around the globe would be impossible without extensive use of chemical aids, in the form of pesticides and fertilizers. 

Diffuse Sources Pollution that comes from a wide range of sources, not from a single source, is said to come from a diffuse source. (See Figure 9.7.) A heavy downpour can cause run-off from farm fields to enter rivers and lakes. This run-off often carries undesirable pollutants, including fecal matter, pesticides, and fertilizer compounds, such as nitrates and phosphates. 

Where needed and feasible, our agricultural experts provide advice on the use of pesticides and fertilizers. They do this directly or, wherever possible, together with official advisory services and in line with local, official recommendations. 

There may, however, be additives in our food as well, depending on where we live and what we eat, and some of our food may also contain man-made contaminants such as pesticides or synthetic hormones. The water we drink may contain metals and other substances which occur naturally in the rock through which the water has flowed. Water may also contain pesticides and fertilizers from agricultural land, industrial chemicals from factory effluent and chemicals from sewage. 

Since the Agricultural Adjustment Acts of the 1930s were originally adopted, they have gradually become more of environmental protection statutes than price supports for producers. With these environmental initiatives, many of the Farm Bill s provisions directly impact the use of pesticides and fertilizers on the farm. Title XIV, XVI, and XXI covering Conservation,Research, and Organic Certification, respectively, impact agrochemical use directly. 

Because of the moderate increase in organic farming (using non-man made pesticides and fertilizers). Congress established national standards governing the marketing of organically produced farm products. 

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