Farming is a challenging activity that requires management and
knowledge to deal with specific situations. Each kind of crop requires certain
types of soil, nutrients, water and light exposure, these are natural factors
that are essential to assure the success of production. However, not just the
treatment of the land is the key to having good results, it is also necessary
to care about external impacts such as weeds and insects. These organisms can
change the behavior of plants and decrease quality of production. For example,
weeds can compete for space with crops. Some insects can attack plants causing problems
such as chlorosis, wilting of leaves, reduction of root growth, and can also
introduce parasites that can cause plant diseases.
In order to solve these
problems, producers resort to the application of pesticides and herbicides. The
problem is that every chemical put in the soil will have some kind of impact. The
formula of these products are generally composed of elements that can be
pollutants and cause contamination not just to the area of application, but
also to the surrounding cities and land. The pollutants contained within the
products can be carried by water and air, an example of this is a case in
Washington.
The Innovation Trail
website reports a case that happened in Washington. Since the 1950’s, apple
producers were spraying pesticides that contain arsenic and lead in its content
(Schick, Flatt, & Earthfix, 2016). These are heavy metals that naturally
occur in the soil, but when their quantity is increased they can be very
hazardous and cause problems such as high risks of cancer, birth defects, and
changes in the soil organisms’ behavior. What happened is that the continuous
application of pesticides increased the levels of lead and arsenic on the soil
and recently was related to child’s blood problems, diabetes and heart diseases
in people around the apple production field. Children in this area were contaminated
directly by ingestion of soil and indirectly by dust exposure. A similar case
happened in the Adelaide City Council where a playground was closed because of
contaminated soil and one of the complaints is that people do not really care
about that, mostly because of the lack of knowledge about the risks, and
producers do not try to decrease the amount of contamination they cause.
In Washington, the state’s
Department of Ecology is working with the neighborhood teaching them the risks
of heavy metals exposure and how they can prevent it. They are analyzing soil
samples to measure the amount of contamination and also created child care
centers to help children that were affected by pollutants. The treatment to
this problem requires a huge effort, especially in this case, since the land
was contaminated for so long. It costs money and it requires changes in the
actual agricultural production, but it is necessary to keep the land likely to
live and to prevent further problems.
Schick, T. , Flatt, C., & Earthfix (2016, Feb. 8). Where apples once grew contaminated soil
lingers.
Lingers
Staff writers. (Feb 8, 2016). Council confident glover east playground
closed due to soil contamination will reopen soon. Retrieved from
Muito bom.
ReplyDelete