Fertiliser contaminants in New Zealand grazed pasture with special reference to cadmium and fluorine — a review

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) fertilisers are an essential input for the economic production of legume-based pastures in New Zealand (NZ) and Australia, but they often contain some unwanted elements that can contaminate the soil, thereby creating potential risks to the health of grazing animal, food quality, and soil quality. Fluorine (F) and cadmium (Cd) are considered to be the elements of most concern. Incidences of F toxicity (from direct ingestion of fertiliser), and accumulation of Cd in offal products above the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) set by the food authorities, have been reported in NZ. Similarly, Cd concentrations in some food grains may exceed the newly proposed MPCs by the Australian and New Zealand Food Authority. Cadmium and F continue to accumulate in the topsoils of NZ and Australian pastures as a result of P fertiliser use. The mobility of both these elements in soils is low and is similar to that of P. Risk of ground water contamination from F and Cd applied to most NZ pastures is low. The plant uptake of these elements, especially F, is also low in most pastoral soils. Cadmium accumulates mainly in liver and kidney of grazing animals mostly through herbage ingestion, whereas F accumulates mainly in the bones of these animals, mostly through soil ingestion. Soil ingestion is highest during the wetter winter months and at high stocking rates. Models have been developed to assess the impact of fertiliser use on the potential risks associated with F and Cd accumulation in soils. Measures to control F and Cd accumulation in soils, plants, and grazing animals are presented and future research needs are identified.

The rate of accumulation of cadmium and uranium in a long-term grazed pasture: implications for soil quality

“…For instance, the application of lime at the start of the trial and in the mid-1970s caused a significant increase in pH (Fig. 1), which is known to decrease Cd desorption (viz loss) and phytoavailability (Loganathan et al 2003). Furthermore, the concentration of organic matter, as measured by carbon, has increased steadily over time, but mostly over the first decade after irrigation began (0.9 t C ha (1 y…”

Influences of natural and anthropogenic factors on surface and groundwater quality in rural and urban areas

“…P loading exportation, which is governed by discharges following heavy rainfall, will tend to increase with climate change and consequently have an impact on lakes (Mooij et al 2005) Many rocks and minerals in the Earth's crust, e.g. fluorospar, cyyolite and fluorapatite (Jagtap et al 2012), contain fluoride (Murray 1986;Loganathan et al 2003) which can be leached out by natural weathering and rainwater, causing contamination of surface water and groundwater, and thus public water systems (Mandinic et al 2010;Gandhi et al 2012;Chen et al 2010 [and references therein]; Rafique et al 2013). For example, Choi and Chen (1979) reported extremely high fluoride concentration (> 1000 mg l −1 ) in surface water in areas with fluoride-rich volcanic rocks.…”

Impacts négatifs d'une zone industrielle sur les eaux souterraines et sur le cheptel (Cas du Jorf Lasfar, Maroc) : approches pluridisciplinaires

“…Il a été aussi démontré que la consommation de l'eau et de l'herbe par la fumée et la poussière émises par les industries produisant les fertilisants phosphatés, conduit au développement de la fluorose chronique chez les bovins (Kessabi et al, 1984 ;Haikel et al, 1986 ;Patra et al, 2000;Garmes, 2002;El Hasnaoui et al, 2006). L'ingestion de sol contenant des concentrations élevées en fluor par des animaux pendant une longue période, peut entraîner l'intoxication chronique par le fluor qui s'accumule principalement dans leur os (Loganathan et al, 2003).…”