The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current, August 01, 2009, Page 7, Image 7

August 2009
The Southwest Portland Post • 7
fEatuRES
Dear EarthTalk: What effects do
fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides
used on residential lawns or on farms
have on nearby water bodies like riv-
ers, streams—or even the ocean for
those of us who live near the shore?
-- Linda Reddington, Manahawkin, NJ
With the advent of the so-called
Green Revolution in the second half of
the 20 th century—when farmers began
to use technological advances to boost
yields—synthetic fertilizers, pesticides
and herbicides became commonplace
around the world not only on farms,
but in backyard gardens and on front
lawns as well.
These chemicals, many of which were
developed in the lab and are petroleum-
based, have allowed farmers and gar-
deners of every stripe to exercise greater
control over the plants they want to
grow by enriching the immediate envi-
ronment and warding off pests.
But such benefits haven’t come
without environmental costs—namely
the wholesale pollution of most of
our streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and
even coastal areas, as these synthetic
chemicals run-off into the nearby wa-
terways.
When the excess nutrients from all
the fertilizer we use runs off into our
waterways, they cause algae blooms
sometimes big enough to make water-
ways impassable. When the algae die,
they sink to the bottom and decompose
in a process that removes oxygen from
the water. Fish and other aquatic species
can’t survive in these so-called “dead
zones” and so they die or move on to
greener underwater pastures.
A related issue is the poisoning of
aquatic life. According to the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC),
Americans alone churn through 75
million pounds of pesticides each year
to keep the bugs off their peapods and
petunias. When those chemicals get
into waterways, fish ingest them and
become diseased. Humans who eat
diseased fish can themselves become
ill, completing the circle wrought by
pollution.
A 2007 study of pollution in rivers
around Portland, Oregon found that
wild salmon there are swimming
around with dozens of synthetic chemi-
cals in their systems. Another recent
study from Indiana found that a variety
of corn genetically engineered to pro-
Synthetic agricultural chemicals became commonplace beginning with the so-called
"Green Revolution." (Photo by Roger Smith, courtesy Flickr)
duce the insecticide Bt is having toxic
effects on non-target aquatic insects,
including caddis flies, a major food
source for fish and frogs.
The solution, of course, is to go or-
ganic, both at home and on the farm.
According to the Organic Trade Asso-
ciation, organic farmers and gardeners
use composted manure and other natu-
ral materials, as well as crop rotation, to
help improve soil fertility, rather than
synthetic fertilizers that can result in an
overabundance of nutrients.
As a result, these practices protect
ground water supplies and avoid run-
off of chemicals that can cause dead
zones and poisoned aquatic life. There
is now a large variety of organic fertil-
izer available commercially, as well as
many ways to keep pests at bay without
resorting to harsh synthetic chemicals.
A wealth of information on growing
greener can be found online: Check out
OrganicGardeningGuru.com and the
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Al-
ternative Farming System Information
Center, for starters. Those interested in
face-to-face advice should consult with
a master gardener at a local nursery that
specializes in organic gardening.
CONTACTS: CDC, www.cdc.gov;
Organic Gardening Guru, www.or-
ganicgardeningguru.com; USDA’s
Alternative Farming System Informa-
tion Center, www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/
pubs/ofp/ofp.shtml.
SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL
QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk, P.O. Box
5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@
emagazine.com. Read past columns
at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/
archives.php.
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