BY: CLIODHNA JOYCE-DALY
Dietetic Professor at Bradley University and Agriculture experts from the University of Illinois explain how detrimental the long-term effects of consuming chemical fertilizers can be, especially nitrogen.
The article below discusses the modern day agricultural practices and the effects nitrogen has on the human body.
PEORIA- Keeping up with America’s increased population can be tricky. When there are more people, there are more mouths to feed. In order to match the population’s demands, farmers must apply certain amount of chemical fertilizers to help crops grow quicker.
Data conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Economic Research Service indicates that the major fertilizer used by agricultural farmers is nitrogen. Findings also show the use of nitrogen in food production has escalated from 2,738 tons of nitrogen in 1960 to 12,840 tons in 2011, a 10,102 ton increase.
“The use of nitrogen will probably continue to rise to meet population demands. This ensures food production does not slow down,” said Angie Pelchier, Commercial Agriculture Educator with extension for the University of Illinois. “In many ways Nitrogen can be beneficial for production, as it contains chlorophyll, which is vital for plant life. However, it also has some downfalls.”
When plants are harvested, certain amounts of nutrients are pulled from the soil. For crops to grow, an abundance of synthetic nitrogen is added.
“The problem with adding these synthetic fertilizers is that it removes a lot of the other natural nutrients that are present in the soil,” Pelchier said.
The nutrients that are removed are not only affecting the soil, but also the crops harvested for human consumption.
This issue has caught the attention of Bradley University Dietetics Professor, Jessica Niggs.
“Nitrogen or nitrate itself can be low toxicity, but when it is ingested it is transformed into nitrite, which can cause bacteria in the stomach and mouth,” said Niggs.
Niggs also mentioned that The Journal Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics said there has been a link between nitrogen intake and the risk of gastrointestinal cancer. This data was further conducted by the Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Prevention of Cancer and it proved there had been a link to nitrites and lung cancer.
“In general, Americans need to eat more fruits and vegetables. I would hate to see the use of these chemicals dissuade people away from consuming more produce,” Niggs said.
So what can be done?
“To decrease the use of these fertilizers we need to go back to the basics,” Pelchier said. “This means farming will have to become more localized to a particular town or city, that way there is not one commercial farm feeding millions.”
In general, Peoria is a farming community. However, Pelchier mentioned farms in the area also feed other towns across Illinois.
The localization of Peoria farms may reduce the amount of harmful nitrites consumed by the public.
“Start small and it will eventually grow into something bigger,” said Pelchier. “We need to start to be aware of what we are eating that way we will know how many nutrients we are consuming.”
Comparison of the average levels of Nitrogen used from 1960 to 2011. 1 represents year from 1960. 56 represents year 2011. The bar graph highlights the significant increase in the use of chemical fertilizers over the years.