EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -In crop production, water pollution from nutrients occurs when fertilizers are applied at a greater rate than they are fixed by soil particles or exported from the soil profile (e.g. by plant uptake or when they are washed off the soil surface before plants can take them up).

Detailed explanation-2: -Too much fertilizer can actually kill the plant and excess fertilizer can runoff into streams and lakes causing toxic algal blooms that are harmful to aquatic life and even people and their pets. Excess fertilizer runoff from lawns and agricultural applications also contribute to aquatic “dead zones” in coastal areas.

Detailed explanation-3: -Nutrient pollution is the process where too many nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus, are added to bodies of water and can act like fertilizer, causing excessive growth of algae. Nutrients can run off of land in urban areas where lawn and garden fertilizers are used.

Detailed explanation-4: -However, nitrogen fertilizers can have undesirable effects, including a decline in tea quality, soil acidification, heavy metals pollution, soil compaction, and changes in soil microbiome [2–3].

Detailed explanation-5: -Excess nutrients can cause harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater systems, which not only disrupt wildlife but can also produce toxins harmful to humans. Fertilized soils, as well as livestock operations, are also vulnerable to nutrient losses to the air.