Meryville P.

Jacildo BSN3G
4.3.6 Impacts of Fertilizer Runoff April 12, 2022

Human Health Impacts of Nitrogen (Nitrate)

Nitrogen, in its inert state, is naturally abundant in the earth’s atmosphere. However, only
the “reactive” form of nitrogen is available to plants, animals, and microbial life processes. The
use of reactive nitrogen in agriculture and food production has greatly contributed to food
security, nutrition, and the livelihoods of a growing world population. Nutrients, such as nitrogen
and phosphorus, are essential for plant and animal growth and nourishment, but the
overabundance of certain nutrients in water can cause several adverse health and ecological
effects. Nitrogen, in the forms of nitrate, nitrite, or ammonium, is a nutrient needed for plant
growth. About 78% of the air that we breathe is composed of nitrogen gas. nitrogen is used in
agriculture to grow crops, and on many farms the landscape has been greatly modified to
maximize farming output. Fields have been leveled and modified to efficiently drain off excess
water that may fall as precipitation or from irrigation practices. Nitrogen is an
excellent replacement for oxygen or supplemental gas in food packaging and manufacturing.
Increased nitrogen preserves freshness, protects the nutrients, and prevents aerobic microbial
growth. While in agriculture it is a component from the periodic table with the letter N to signify
it. It is a responsive non-metal. It plays an important role in farming across a broad range of
applications. Nitrogen is a significant component to having a nutrient healthy soil. Without
nitrogen in the soil, yields will be hard to grow successfully.
Nitrogen gas from the atmosphere is fixed into organic nitrogen by nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
This organic nitrogen enters terrestrial food webs. It leaves the food webs as nitrogenous wastes
in the soil. Nitrogen from runoff and fertilizers enters the ocean, where it enters marine food
webs. It is carried downward through soil or leaves Earth’s surface as runoff, it enters streams,
rivers, lakes, groundwater, and oceans. It serves as a pollutant in human drinking water supplies
and every ecosystem it enters.
Several harmful effects of nitrogen on human health include causing vitamin A shortages,
decreasing function of the thyroid gland and decreasing the blood’s ability to carry oxygen.
These effects are seen when nitrogen occurs in an ion form, such as nitrite or nitrate. Decreased
thyroid function and vitamin A shortages are both caused by nitrate. Nitrogen has several
negative consequences on human health, including producing vitamin A deficiency, impairing
thyroid gland function, and impairing the ability of the blood to transport oxygen. In the presence
of nitrogen in the form of an ion, such as nitrogen oxide or nitrogen trioxide, several effects can
be observed. Nitrate is responsible for both reduced thyroid function and vitamin A deficiency.
Hemoglobin in the blood is damaged because of the reaction between nitrite and hemoglobin.
References:
 Halving nitrogen pollution in agri-food systems |Climate Change|FAO. (n.d.). NN.
https://www.fao.org/climate change/news/detail/en/c/1366252/#:%7E:text=The%20use
%20of%20reactive%20nitrogen%20in%20agriculture%20and,and%20the%20livelihoods
%20of%20a%20growing%20world%20population.

 NCBI - WWW Error Blocked Diagnostic. (n.d.). NS.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7938701/

 (2019, January 17). Impact of Human Activities on the Nitrogen Cycle. Environmental
Advanced Sciences. https://easciences.org/impact-of-human-activities-on-the-nitrogen-
cycle/#:%7E:text=Nitrogen%20is%20carried%20downward%20through%20soil%20or
%20leaves,drinking%20water%20supplies%20and%20every%20ecosystem%20it%20enters.