What are the by-products of fertiliser industries? How do they affect the environment?
Ans.
Fertiliser industries produce effluents and harmful gases as main wastes. These are artificially produced so a lot of energy is consumed to make them. The by-products of fertilizer industries are pesticides and some chemical fertilizers. They are non-biodegradable, so they get accumulated at each trophic level. These pesticides mix up with the soil and water. Eventually, they get absorbed by the growing plants along with water and minerals. The plants are consumed by herbivores, so the poisonous chemicals enter the bodies of these herbivores through the food chain. Next, when carnivores eat herbivores, the pesticides get transferred to their bodies.
Humans, being omnivores, eats both plants and herbivores and the fertilizers get accumulated into their body. Thus, pesticides enter the food chain at the producer level and in the process of transfer of food through food chains, they get concentrated at each trophic level. This is called bio-magnification.