Air pollution conjures up images of dirty factory smokestacks or crowded traffic-clogged cities. A recent study, however, revealed that one significant source of air pollution in America is actually associated with corn. The researchers found that the fertilizer used to increase crop yields can cause a kind of air pollution called PM2.5 (Particle Matter 2.5 micrometers thick), resulting in negative health impacts for people living nearby.
When farmers buy fertilizer, it often contains nitrogen in the form of the molecule ammonia. Ammonia can escape from the soil into the atmosphere. In the atmosphere, it can catch some particles and form PM2.5. PM2.5 is too big for the human body to break down and remove from the body. However, it is small enough that it finds its way into the small air sacks called alveoli in the bottom of the lungs. The human body can’t easily remove PM2.5 from the lungs, so it stays stuck, causing illness and death. Scientists had already estimated how many people become ill or die from different amounts of PM2.5 air pollution. Using this data, this study determined that air pollution caused by corn production kills 4300 people annually. The health problems caused by this air pollution cost about $39 billion annually.
Fortunately, air pollution caused by corn production can be mitigated. The authors suggest growing corn in regions where less fertilizer is needed, such as Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska. Farmers can also switch to fertilizers that provide plants the nitrogen they need without releasing ammonia into the atmosphere. In places where a switch to safer fertilizer is not an option, switching out corn for a crop that requires less fertilizer can also reduce air pollution.
Corresponding Author: Emily Kerr
Popular Press Article: Air pollution caused by corn production increases mortality rate in US
Original Scientific Article: Air-quality-related health damages of maize
Image Credit: Huw Williams, Wikicommons
Air contamination alludes to the arrival of toxins high up poisons which are impeding to human wellbeing and the planet all in all. As per the World Health Organization (WHO),
Air contamination alludes to the arrival of toxins high up poisons which are impeding to human wellbeing and the planet all in all. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), every year air contamination is answerable for almost 7,000,000 passings all over the planet. The vast majority of people presently inhale air that surpasses the WHO’s rule limits for poisons, with those living in low-and center pay nations experiencing the most. In the United States, the Clean Air Act, laid out in 1970, approves the U.S. Natural Protection Agency (EPA) to shield general wellbeing by managing the emanations of these destructive air contaminations.
I’m sorry – but unless you can do a study on how many farmers die from these applications – because they are the ones in and around it more than anyone – your argument is a false. I am a 7th generation farmer – from a long line of farmers that have been utilizing synthetic fertilizers for almost 100 years. No one has died a premature death.