R E Hester & R M Harrison 
Agricultural Chemicals and the Environment 

Enormous increases in agricultural productivity can properly be associated with the use of chemicals. This statement applies equally to crop production through the use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, as to livestock production and the associated use of drugs, steroids and other growth accelerators. There is, however a dark side to this picture and it is important to balance the benefits which flow from the use of agricultural chemicals against their environmental impacts which sometimes are seriously disadvantageous. Agricultural Chemicals and the Environment explores a variety of issues which currently are subject to wide-ranging debate and are of concern not only to the scientific establishment and to students, but also to farmers, landowners, managers, legislators, and to the general public.

Table of Content

Fertilizers and Nitrate Leaching; Eutrophication of Natural Waters and Toxic Algal Blooms; Impact of Agricultural Pesticides on Water Quality; Agricultural Nitrogen and Emissions to the Atmosphere; Drugs and Dietary Additives, Their Use in Animal Production and Potential Environmental Consequences; Detection, Analysis and Risk Assessment of Cyanobacterial Toxins; Subject Index.

About the author

Roy Harrison OBE is Queen Elizabeth II Birmingham Centenary Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Birmingham. In 2004 he was appointed OBE for services to environmental science. Professor Harrison’s research interests lie in the field of environment and human health. His main specialism is in air pollution, from emissions through atmospheric chemical and physical transformations to exposure and effects on human health. Much of this work is designed to inform the development of policy.