ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
1. Eutrophication
High concentrations of phosphorus may result from poor agricultural practices, runoff from urban areas
and lawns, leaking septic systems or discharges from sewage treatment plants. Too much phosphorus
can cause increased growth of algae and large aquatic plants, which can result in decreased levels of
dissolved oxygen– a process called eutrophication.
2. High levels of phosphorus in water
This can also leads to large growths of algae called algal blooms and which can severely reduce or
eliminate oxygen in the water, leading to illnesses in fish and the death of large numbers of fish. Some
algal blooms are harmful to humans because they produce elevated toxins and bacterial growth that can
make people sick if they come into contact with polluted water, consume tainted fish or shellfish, or
drink contaminated water.
3. Soil Unproductivity
When people practise extensive wood chopping in forest areas, such as the tropical rain forest,
phosphate supplies deplete, because most of the phosphate can be found in the ground under the trees
in such areas. When the trees are removed the rain washes phosphates away, causing the ground to
become unproductive.
4. Water pollution by fertilisers
When fields are over fertilised through commercial fertilisers or manure, phosphate not utilised by
plants can be lost from the soil through leaching and water run-off. This phosphate ends up in
waterways, lakes and estuaries. Excess phosphate causes excessive growth of plants in waterways, lakes
and estuaries leading to eutrophication.
How Phosphorus is Lost from Agricultural Fields
Fields with high losses of phosphorus must have a high source potential and a mechanism to
transport phosphorus to bodies of water. Phosphorus can travel to surface water attached to particles of
soil or manure. However, special situations can produce higher concentrations of phosphorus in
groundwater. The capacity of soil to absorb phosphorus can be overwhelmed on sandy soils or when the
water table is close to the soil surface. Also, cracking in soils creates channels allowing surface water to
travel directly to groundwater.
Phosphorus losses from agricultural fields can be divided into three categories:
1. Flash Losses of Soluble Phosphorus
Manure and commercial fertilizers have a vastly higher concentration of soluble phosphorus
than soil. If rainfall runoff occurs soon after a surface application of manure or commercial fertilizer, the
concentration of soluble phosphorus in the runoff can be more than 100 times greater than from other
runoff events. Flash losses of soluble phosphorus have high concentrations of phosphorus in a form that
is readily available to aquatic organisms.
Through time, highly soluble manure and fertilizer phosphorus on the soil surface will react with
the soil, reducing soluble phosphorus in runoff. Normal levels return during the course of a month in
warm soils, and longer in cold soils. Manure and fertilizer on frozen or snow-covered soils is not
recommended because phosphorus never has a chance to bind with soil before runoff occurs.
2. Slow-leak Losses of Soluble Phosphorus
All soils release very small amounts of soluble phosphorus into surface runoff. The phosphorus
level in a soil test is related to the concentration of soluble phosphorus in runoff. Substantial evidence
shows soluble phosphorus concentrations in runoff increase linearly with increasing soil test phosphorus
levels. However, this linear relationship varies among soil types.
Slow-leak phosphorus losses are important because they occur in every runoff event. Because of
the cumulative effect of multiple runoff events, this can be an important source of phosphorus loss.
3. Erosion Losses from Wind and/or Water
Phosphorus is almost entirely bound to soil particles. Fine soil particles have a greater capacity
to hold phosphorus than coarse particles. Unfortunately, soil erosion transports more fine particles,
causing the eroded sediment to be “enriched” with phosphorus.
Some of this sediment was lost to water bodies such as lakes. Much of it was relocated sometimes miles
away from the source. Water erosion also contributes to sediments in surface water each season.
Reducing or eliminating tillage to control erosion can reduce total phosphorus losses from wind and
water greatly.
Managing Phosphorus in the Environment
A number of best management practices can be implemented to minimize phosphorus losses
and the environmental impacts of phosphorus:
a. Only apply phosphorus to fields that have an agronomic need for phosphorus.
b. Surfaces apply phosphorus sources only on fields with a low potential for runoff.
c. Adopt soil conservation practices to minimize soil erosion, such as maintaining buffer strips
around water resources.
d. Reduce the amount of soil lost through runoff from agricultural fields through crop selection and
soil conservation practices.
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