TFI dismisses findings on fleas and toxins

Washington-The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) is dismissing as “not in the real world” research at North Carolina State University raising the possibility of fertilizer being converted into a toxic form by sea creatures. In a study published last month, N.C. State researchers show that water fleas take up nitrates and nitrites and convert them into nitric oxide, which can be toxic to many organisms. The study, published in PLoS ONE, shows that the fleas in water were plagued with developmental and reproductive problems consistent with nitric oxide toxicity even at what would be considered low concentrations. According to Dr. Gerald LeBlanc, professor of environmental and molecular toxicology at N.C. State and an author of the paper, this raises questions about the effect these chemicals may have on other organisms’ toxicology. LeBlanc conceded that additional research will be needed to explore those questions. Bill Herz, TFI vice president of scientific programs, dismissed this research as “an in vitro experiment trying to replicate real world conditions using surrogates.” Herz added, “It’s a deliberate exposure of organisms that is not a real pathway (because) it takes a fair amount of energy to go from nitrate to nitrite, and nitrite is not a typical byproduct of fertilizer loss. This nitrite exposure is very hypothetical, and you have to have conditions that are not often found in fresh water conditions.” In the report, LeBlanc labeled some of the study’s results as surprising. “There’s only limited evidence to suggest that animals could convert nitrates and nitrites to nitric oxide, although plants can,” he said. “Since animals and plants don’t have the same cellular machinery for this conversion, it appears animals use different machinery for this conversion to occur.” There were even toxic effects at low nitrite concentrations showing negative effects to water fleas at approximately 0.3 milligrams per liter where concentrations fall within 1 to 2 milligrams per liter.