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Nutrient pollution, a form of water pollution, refers to contamination by excessive inputs of nutrients.It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters (lakes, rivers and coastal waters), in which excess nutrients, usually nitrogen or phosphorus, stimulate algal growth. [1]
While not directly toxic to fish life, like ammonia, nitrate can have indirect effects on fish if it contributes to this eutrophication. Nitrogen has contributed to severe eutrophication problems in some water bodies. Since 2006, the application of nitrogen fertilizer has been increasingly controlled in Britain and the United States. This is ...
Approximately 78% of Earth's atmosphere is N gas (N 2), which is an inert compound and biologically unavailable to most organisms.In order to be utilized in most biological processes, N 2 must be converted to reactive nitrogen (Nr), which includes inorganic reduced forms (NH 3 and NH 4 +), inorganic oxidized forms (NO, NO 2, HNO 3, N 2 O, and NO 3 −), and organic compounds (urea, amines, and ...
Human health effects of eutrophication derive from two main issues excess nitrate in drinking water and exposure to toxic algae. [43] Nitrates in drinking water can cause blue baby syndrome in infants and can react with chemicals used to treat water to create disinfection by-products in drinking water. [44]
There is also evidence for shifts in the production of key intermediary volatile products, some of which have marked greenhouse effects (e.g., N 2 O and CH 4, reviewed by Breitburg in 2018, [15] due to the increase in global temperature, ocean stratification and deoxygenation, driving as much as 25 to 50% of nitrogen loss from the ocean to the ...
Climate-driven extreme weather conditions, such as droughts and intense precipitation, may be accelerating the pace at which toxic nitrates are polluting groundwater, a recent study has found.
Nitrate levels above 10 mg/L (10 ppm) in groundwater can cause 'blue baby syndrome' (acquired methemoglobinemia). [83] The nutrients, especially nitrates, in fertilizers can cause problems for natural habitats and for human health if they are washed off soil into watercourses or leached through soil into groundwater. [84]
The other product, nitrate (NO 3 −), is a key nutrient for plant growth. This excess nitrate from ammonia nitrification favors nitrophilous plants (those that prefer high nitrate concentrations) and disadvantages others. For example, an increase in nitrophilous plant populations shade other plants from necessary sunlight.