DISADVANTAGES OF SYNTHETIC FERTILIZERS?

Question

I know that by making synthetic fertilizers, you need to use fossil fuels which are a non renewable resource

and I also am aware of the fact that the chemicals they use are unhealthy.

are there any other disadvantages? Or can you go into detail about any of the above?

It's difficult because I'm not talking about the whole of organic farming (including pesticides, gmos ect..) but just fertlizers.

Thanks

Answer 1

I'm no expert, but I'm extremely skeptical of those who believe in the simple formula: "Synthetic bad, organic good."  You can cause as much or more environmental damage using strictly organic fertilizers as you can using synthetics.  Nobody's going to convince me that five tons of cow p**p spread across a field will have less negative impact on, say, water quality than a half ton of ammonium nitrates.

The "Organic Movement" is a religion.

Answer 2

Actually most synthetic fertilizers are harmless salts, like ammonium nitrate, urea, and trisodium phosphate.  You may be thinking about pesticides (which are also largely harmless these days, at least how the vast majority of people encounter them).

Nitrogen can be fixed synthetically without fossil fuels.  It's just more expensive to do so.

Use of fertilizers instead of organic soil supplements and crop rotation encourages farmers to grow one crop year after year, with the result that pests build up that require harsher and harsher methods to eradicate.

An advantage to synthetic fertilizers, however, is they do not carry disease (E. coli, intestinal parasites, etc.) like manures can.

Hope that helps.

DK