Chemistry, Agriculture and the Environment

The aim of this book is to highlight the essential role of chemistry in evaluating the usage of chemicals in agriculture and their effects on the environment. It explains the problems and their implication for the environment and for human and animal health, and how they may be overcome.

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This book demonstrates the essential role of chemistry in evaluating the use of agrochemicals and related substances and their effects on the environment. The work is unique in its collation of chapters from scientists in Western and Eastern Europe, USA, Costa Rica, India, China, Israel and Nigeria. It contains chapters on information retrieval and the terminology essential to understanding the complex issues involved; the interactive effects of chemicals and the processes used in agriculture from pesticides to manure, and their effects on all matrices of the biosphere, air, soil and water; regulatory matters, public health and the toxicology of pesticides and their potential effects on species varying from bees, birds and butterflies, to fish and mammals including man. In discussing the effects of pesticides pragmatic, alternatives to the current Drinking Water Standard imposed by the EEC are proposed, together with recommendations for alleviating the effects of the greenhouse gases. This volume, with its global coverage, will be of interest to all scientists, engineers, farmers, regulators, journalists, and politicians worldwide who are concerned with chemical pollution of the environment caused by modern agricultural practices. Highlights include: Pesticide contamination and pesticide control in developing countries: Costa Rica, Central America; The effect of nitrogen fertilizer plant effluent discharges in soil; Pesticides, environmental pollution and human health in China; Toxicology and risk assessment of pesticides; Human health aspects of nitrate intake from food and water; Pesticides in water - human health, agricultural and environmental aspects.