Soil Contamination on UK Farmland

For agriculture in the UK the quality of the soil is an important part of the whole process and plays a huge role in both the production of food as well as the environment of the surrounding area and unfortunately there is a lot of historical contamination on farmland all over the UK. Where there have been lots of industry in an area or outdated practices and intensive chemicals like pesticides that are now banned were once used, this can cause contamination to the soil that needs to be dealt with by a professional like this soil remediation company //soilfix.co.uk/services/soil-remediation/ to ensure that it is safe to use.

There are multiple ways that contamination can enter agriculture. If the site has been used in the past for another industrial activity such as mining, which was once commonplace in many parts of the UK, then toxic heavy metals can get into the soil.

Another problem is historic practices that are now not permitted – uses of strong chemicals like herbicides that were designed to protect crops yet did huge damage to the environment can still be found in the soil in many places unfortunately.

Pollutants in the soil can cause a whole host of problems for farmers too – heavy metals and hydrocarbons are two examples of this, and they can affect the growth of crops, affect the health of livestock and other animals and of course can mean that potentially toxic materials are entering the food chain.