Pollution

What’s going on?

Pollution arising from a variety of agricultural practices can drive biodiversity loss.

While use of agrochemicals is often necessary to treat crops for pests, fungus or disease or add nutrients to increase yields, it can cause problems when not done responsibly. Runoff of pesticide-derived nitrates and organophosphates, for example, can be significant, adversely affecting soils, water systems and human health.[i]

Leakage of pesticides from the farmed environment into water systems and drinking water heavily impacts invertebrate systems, depletes aquatic systems, harms fresh water supplies, and can enter the food we and other species eat. Often, such problems are compounded by degraded soil health caused by intensified farming practices such as overgrazing, ploughing and repeat cropping. This exacerbates crops’ susceptibility to pests and diseases. And a vicious circle then occurs when even more chemicals are needed.

Animal waste can also generate pollution that causes lasting damage to biodiversity. When poorly managed, such waste can far outstrip what nature can process in the same location. Worse, the problem can be exacerbated by poor slurry storage practices. When slurry ends up in water sources, for example, it causes havoc on the ecosystems.

Air pollutants emitted by agricultural activities including nitrogen-containing compounds (NO2, NO, NH3, N2O) are another issue. Meanwhile, methane and non-methane volatile organic compounds (VOC) are also emitted by agriculture, and livestock are responsible for around half of methane in the UK – 51% in 2016.[ii]

The pesticides/fungicides hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorocyclohexane and pentachlorophenol, which are listed in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, are also emitted from agricultural and forestry use.[iii]