Adverse health effects of nitrogen-enriched soil

What's the harm in using animal manure as fertilizer?

Many gardeners believe in using various animal manures to fertilize their soil. Some may also use chemically produced nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen enriched soil may boost growth but it has adverse health effects as well. How does nitrogen enriched soil create these adverse health effects? What is the role of the farming industry in this issue? What alternatives are there to nitrogen enriched fertilizer?

Nitrogen enriched soil as a pollutant

Nearly everything put into the soil eventually ends up in the water supply. Some may argue that manure is a natural substance. How can adverse health effects come from putting something completely natural into the soil? What harm is there to promoting vegetation growth? Isn't more vegetation healthy?

The earth's vegetation does produce oxygen. Unfortunately everything on this earth must stay in balance. Too much of a good thing can also be bad. When nitrogen enriched soil leeches into the water supply, it causes algae overgrowth. The algae then consumes the oxygen in the water. This wipes out the fish and other plants which depend on the water for oxygen.

The adverse health effects of nitrogen enriched soil in our water supply doesn't stop there. Although nitrogen is a necessary nutrient, too much nitrogen can lead to many ailments. These include blue baby syndrome (due to lack of oxygen), hypothyroidism, cancer, birth defects and nervous system issues. Infants, young children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to the adverse health effects of nitrogen enriched soil.

The farming industry

Due to the overwhelming population of the world today, there are more and more farms, producing meat, dairy and produce in overwhelming proportions. In addition to runoff from produce fields fertilized with nitrogen, there is the issue of waste from billions of cows, pigs and other farm animals raised for food.

Fertilizer alternatives

What can be done about the pollution and devastation caused by nitrogen enriched soil? One solution is using compost as a substitute fertilizer. Compost is traditionally made from waste such as kitchen vegetable scraps, grass clippings and fallen leaves. Many organic gardeners use vegetable based compost for their personal gardens.

How can we incorporate compost into large factory farming operations? One simple idea is the planting of winter wheat. Winter wheat is sometimes referred to as green manure. It's planted after the harvest. Once grown, it can be tilled into the soil to compost over the winter. Winter wheat then acts as a superior fertilizer, without the health hazards of heavily nitrogen enhanced soil.

What about the animal farms? According to the UN, as long as Americans continue to eat a primarily meat and dairy based diet there will be adverse health effects. Not only is the hormone and antibiotic injected meat a health hazard, the very close living conditions of the animals makes for excess bacteria in the meat. What's more? The environmental health issues caused by an omnivore diet and the resultant fertilizer run-off don't stop there.