Danville, Pa.-Fertilizer and pesticide runoff will be included in studies by two prestigious research institutes on what are considered the country’s most pressing environmental health problems, but a spokeswoman for one of them said she is unable to say what are the concerns and how or when they will be investigated. The Geisinger Center for Health Research and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have formed the Environmental Health Institute for this purpose. Patti Urosevich, Geisinger Center national media manager, said the studies are in the early stages and “I was told it (fertilizer and pesticide runoff) is a topic that they will probably look into at a future time.” On the list of five general topics, farm runoff of fertilizer nutrients and pesticides are listed under agricultural and animal husbandry issues. Other main headings are poisons in the environment such as pesticides and metals, land use issues such as sprawl, the effect of abandoned mines on ecosystem and community health, and how green building design may promote worker and community health. The Fertilizer Institute declined to comment specifically on the studies, but spokeswoman Harriet Wegmeyer remarked that TFI continues to promote the use of the right product at the right place, right time, and right rate, and supports nutrient management planning to best protect the environment. One of the co-directors, Geisinger’s Dr. Walter Stewart, noted that a number of projects have already been initiated studying environmental challenges in central and northern Pennsylvania, and the new relationship will focus on “poorly managed industrial, manufacturing and commercial growth which have contributed to ecosystem degradation in this area.”
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain