Phosphorus pollution is a global threat to food security, biodiversity in freshwater basins and ultimately to health. The phenomenon is analyzed in the report ‘Our Phosphorus Future‘ prepared by a team of 40 international experts from 17 countries and supported by UNEP, the United Nations Environment Program. (1)
Phosphorus pollution, the fertilizer crisis
Phosphorus is extracted from phosphate rock. Only four countries-China, Morocco, the United States and Russia-control about 70 percent of annual global production.
The mineral is used to produce fertilizers widely used in agriculture. Since 2020, prices have risen by about 400 percent, and, abetted by the Ukrainian crisis, they show no signs of cooling. Under this circumstance, there is a risk of food crisis in some countries, as well highlighted in iPES Food’s recent report on food system distortions. (2)
Phosphorus in food additives
The presence of phosphorus-in various forms and with possible contraindications for the cardiovascular system-also occurs in some 15 food additives approved in the EU. Some of the most common include:
– ammonium phosphatides (E 442). Although suspected of causing cardiac syndrome, they are present in many foods, including ice cream,
– phosphoric acid (E 338). Considered a cardiovascular risk factor, especially in renal failure, it is added in non-alcoholic aperitifs, among other things.
The path of contamination
Conventional, i.e., non-organic, agriculture is the protagonist of phosphorus pollution due to the massive use of nitrogen fertilizers. Which contaminate fresh and coastal waters, causing serious damage to ecosystems:
– Environmental degradation,
– proliferation of algae harmful to aquatic biodiversity,
– remediation costs,
– Health risks associated with consuming contaminated water.
How to mitigate phosphorus pollution
The current trend is unsustainable, warn scientists, who propose some solutions and call for appropriate policy and regulatory interventions to mitigate phosphorus pollution.
The report’s authors call on governments around the world to adopt a 50-50-50 goal. That is, to reduce global phosphorus pollution by 50 percent and increase ore recycling by 50 percent, by 2050.
Four recommendations
Useful recommendations to achieve the goal include logical but still rarely adopted solutions:
– Integrate livestock and agricultural production activities so that phosphorus in animal manure is applied to crops,
– reduce the demand for chemical fertilizers (and organic farming is the high road to this, we would add),
– Adopt more sustainable diets by reducing meat consumption to reduce nitrogen fertilizer consumption in feed crops and manure dispersion,
– Improve wastewater treatment to remove phosphorus and reuse it.
The advantages of the 50-50-50 goal
According to the group of scientists, adopting the 50-50-50 goal would enable the food system to provide enough phosphorus to support more than four times the current global population.
It could also allow the world’s farmers nearly $20 billion in annual phosphorus fertilizer costs and more than $300 billion in cleanup costs, otherwise essential to remove phosphorus from polluted waterways. (3)
Decisive for the breakthrough is the active collaboration between scientists, governments, farmers and industries.
Marta Strinati
Notes
(1) W.J. Brownlie, M.A. Sutton, K.V. Heal, D.S. Reay, B.M. Spears. (eds.), (2022) Our Phosphorus Future. UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.17834.08645 https://www.opfglobal.com/
(2) Marta Strinati. Rising prices and food crisis in wartime. Background in iPES FOOD report. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade), 10.5.22
(3) Dario Dongo. Agricultural wastewater, public health and food safety. EU rules and the Italian disaster. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 2.3.22,
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
