Chemical Fertilizers and Aquatic Life

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews, discusses and analyzes the effect that chemical fertilizer has on the aquatic life in the water surrounding the areas that have been treated by such fertilizers. The paper provides an overview of water systems and how they function, followed by a discussion of the different types of chemical fertilizers in use today.

Outline:
Introduction
Review and Discussion
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The quality of water systems is determined by the degree to which bodies of water are able to support aquatic life while also meeting standards for the protection of human health and the preservation of human life; this level of contamination is determined by establishing baseline standards to measure the periodic relative quality of each individual water system against these original standards (Henning & Mangun 251). Attempts to either maintain or restore the quality of the water in these systems are developed according to the amounts and kinds of material that are emptied into the waterways; the quality of water in streams, rivers, lakes and oceans therefore depends on the capacity of each of these water systems to clean themselves of the various pollutants. According to Henning and Mangun, this ability depends on the types and amounts of the pollutants as well as with water temperatures, rate of water flow, degree of sedimentation, and mineral content (251). The mineral content of pollutants containing chemical fertilizers already account for the lion's share of the nitrogen being released into the world's water systems, but there are other elements involved in modern chemical fertilizers as well, and these are discussed further below."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Backer, L. C., Baden, D. G. and L. E. Fleming. 2005. "Overview of Aerosolized Florida Red Tide Toxins: Exposures and Effects." Environmental Health Perspectives, 113(5):618.
• "Coming to Terms with Sustainability." 1999. Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy 14(4):6.
• "Fertilizer." Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online [premium service]. 8 Dec. 2006 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9034126>.
• Getches, David. 2004. "Water Wrongs: Why Can't We Get It Right the First Time?" Environmental Law 34(1):1-2.
• Henning, Daniel H. and William R. Mangun. Managing the Environmental Crisis: Incorporating Competing Values in Natural Resource Administration. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1999.

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