Ciba Foundation Symposium 57 - Phosphorus in the Environment: Its Chemistry and Biochemistry

323 Pages·1978·6.242 MB·English

by  Ciba Foundation

Phosphorus in the Environment:
its chemistry and biochemistry
The Ciba Foundation for the promotion of international cooperation in
medical and chemical research is a scientific and educational charity established by
CIBA Limited - now CIBA-GEIGY Limited - of Bade. The Foundation operates
independently in London under English trust law.
Ciba Foundation Symposia are published in collaboration with
Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company f Excerpta Medica /
North-Holland Publishing Company in Amsterdam.
Elsevier !E xcerpta Medica / North-Holland, P.O.Box 21 1, Amsterdam
Phosphorus in the
Environment :
its chemistry and
biochemistrv
J
Ciba Foundation Symposium 57 (new series)
1979
Excerpta Medica
-
Amsterdam Oxford New York
T
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any infor-
mation storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
First printing June 1978
Second printing June 1979
ISBN Excerpta Medica 90-219-4063-9
ISBN Elsevier/North-Holland 0-444-9003 1-4
Published in June 1978 by Elsevier/Excerpta Medica/North-Holland, P.O.Box 21 1,
Amsterdam and Elsevier/North-Holland, Inc., 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017
Suggested series entry for library catalogues: Ciba Foundation Symposia.
Suggested publisher’s entry for library catalogues: Elsevier/Excerpta MedicalNorth-Holland
Ciba Foundation Symposium 57 (new series)
330 pages, 70 figures, 34 tables
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Symposium on the Economy and Chemistry of
Phosphorus, London, Eng., 1977.
Phosphorus in the environment.
(Ciba Foundation symposium; 57 (new ser.))
Bibliography: p.
Includes indexes.
1. Phosphorus--Environmental aspects--Congresses. 2. Phosphorus--Congresses. I. Title.
11. Series Ciba Foundation. Symposium. Symposium; new ser., 57.
QH545. P5SG-1977 574.5’2 78-4289
ISBN 0-444-90031-4
Printed in TheN etherlands by Krips Repro,M eppel
Contents
R.J.P. WILLIAMS Phosphorus: a general introduction 1
J.R. VAN WAZER Phosphorus and mankind’s problems today 5
Discussion 16
J.W. BRINCK World resources of phosphorus 23
Discussion 44
G. H. MCCLELLAN and T.P. HIGNETT Some economic and technical factors
affecting use of phosphate raw materials 49
Discussion 64
E. J. GRIFFITH Modern mankind’s influence on the natural cycles of
phosphorus 75
Discussion 88
R. J. P. WILLIAMS Phosphorus biochemistry 95
Discussion 108
A. J. KIRBY The organic chemistry of phosphate transfer 117
Discussion 126
T. D. INCH The biological importance of organophosphorus compounds
containing a carbon-phosphorus bond 135
Discussion 150
B. C. LOUGHMAN Metabolic factors and the utilization of phosphorus by
plants 155
Discussion 169
V
VI CONTENTS
A. F. HARRISON Phosphorus cycles of forest and upland grassland ecosystems
and some effects of land management practices 175
Discussion 193
c. s. REYNOLDS Phosphorus and the eutrophication of lakes - a personal
view 201
Discussion 2 16
R. w. COLLINGWOOD The dissipation of phosphorus in sewage and sewage
effluents 229
Discussion 239
J. c.B OWMAN Balance sheet for phosphorus in the UK 243
Discussion 246
P. A. GILBERT and A. L. de JONG The use of phosphate in detergents and
possible replacements for phosphate 253
Discussion 264
G. R. ALEXANDER Jr The rationale for a ban on detergent phosphate in the
Great Lakes Basin 269
Discussion 216
R. J. P. WILLIAMS Can the availability of phosphorus be critical for man-
kind? 285
Discussion 289
Biographies of the participants 309
Index of contributors 3 13
Subject index 3 14
Participants
Symposium on The Economy and Chemistry of Phosphorus held at the Ciba
Foundation, London, 13-15th September, 1977
Chairman: R. J. P. WILLIAMS Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Uni-
versity of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QR, UK
D. c. ABBOTT Department of Industry, Laboratory of the Government
Chemist, Cornwall House, Stamford Street, London SE1 9NQ, UK
G. R. ALEXANDER United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region
V, 230 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois 60604, USA
J. R. ARTHUR Fisons Ltd., Fertilizer Division, Levington Research Station,
Levington, Ipswich, Suffolk IPlO OLU, UK
J. c. BOWMAN Centre for Agricultural Strategy, University of Reading, Ear-
ley Gate, Reading, Berkshire RG6 2AT, UK
J. w .B RINCK International Resources Consultants, Bachlaan 7, Postbox 471,
Alkmaar, The Netherlands
T. G. BRYDGES Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Water Resources
Branch, Limnology and Toxicity Section, PO Box 213, Rexdale, Ontario,
Canada M9W 5L1
E. w . COLLINGWOOD Resources Division, Water Research Centre, Med-
menham Laboratory, PO Box 16, Henley Road, Medmenham, Marlow,
Buckinghamshire SL7 2HD, UK
N. T. DE OUDE Proctor & Gamble European Technical Center, Temselaan
100, 1820-Grimsbergeq Belgium
J. EMSLEY Department of Chemistry, Kings College, The Strand, London
WC2R 2LS, UK
VII
VIII PARTICIPANTS
P. A. GILBERT Bioconsequences Section, Unilever Research Laboratory, Port
Sunlight, Wirral, Merseyside L62 4XN, UK
E. J. GRIFFITH Monsanto Industrial Chemicals Co., 800 North Lindbergh
Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63166, USA
A. F. HARRISON Soil Science Subdivision, The Institute of Terrestrial Eco-
logy, Merlewood Research Station, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA 1 1
6JU, UK
T. D. INCH Organic and Physical Chemistry Division, Ministry of Defence,
Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4
OJQ, UK
E. JOHNSTON Albright & Wilson Ltd., Detergents and Chemicals Group,
Marchon Works, PO Box 15, Whitehaven, Cumbria CA28 SQQ, UK
M. KABBAJ World Phosphate Rock Institute, 8 rue de Penthi&vre, 75008
Paris, France
A. J. KIRBY University Chemical Laboratory, Lensfield Road, Cambridge
CB2 IEW, UK
J. LABARRE Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination, Centre Nationale de la
Recherche Scientifique, BP 4142,3 1030 Toulouse, France
s. LARSEN The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Department of
Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition, Thorvaldsensvej 40, Entrance 8,
DK- 187 1, Copenhagen V, Denmark
B. c.L OUGHMAN Department of Agricultural Science, University of Oxford,
Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PF, UK
G. H. MCCLELLAN International Fertilizer Development Center, 402 First
Federal Building, Florence, Alabama 35630, USA
w. NICOL Group Research and Development, Philip Lyle Memorial
Research Laboratory, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading,
Berkshire RG6 2BX, UK
H.-D. NIELEN Hoechst AG, Werk Knapsack, D-5030 Hiirth-Knapsack, West
Germany
N. W. PIRIE Chemistry Department, Rothamsted Experimental Station,
Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK
PARTICIPANTS IX
c. s. REYNOLDS Freshwater Biological Association, The Ferry House, Am-
bleside, Cumbria LA22 OLP, UK
R. A. SHAW Department of Chemistry, Birkbeck College, Malet Street,
London WC 1E 7HX, UK
P. B. TINKER Department of Soils and Plant Nutrition, Rothamsted Ex-
perimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK
J. R. VAN WAZER Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nash-
ville, Tennessee 37235, USA
J. H. WILLIAMS West Midlands Regional Office, Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food, Woodthorne, Wolverhampton WV6 8TQ, UK
Editors: RUTH PORTER (Organizer) and DAVID w . FITZSIMONS
Phosphorus in the Environment :i ts chemistry and biochemistry
Ciba Foundation
Copyright 0 1978 Ciba Foundation
Phosphorus: a general introduction
R. J. P. WILLIAMS
Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford University, Oxford
This symposium report is an effort by a diversified group of scientists to look
at a wide general problem which faces mankind: the proper use of the world’s
phosphate resources. This is not just a scientific problem; it has economic and
political overtones. Some are obvious: for example, the need to supply
phosphate fertilizers to huge areas of the earth at an economic price, and the
prevention of pollution. Others are not so obvious, such as the risks and value
of the use of organophosphorus compounds in combating insects and weeds.
Since most of the participants in the symposium have little or no political
experience little attempt is made in the articles to comment within political
confines (i.e. ‘within the art of the possible’) but rather the authors have gone
out of their way to present an accurate, although often simplified, version of
their specialist knowledge.
The volume starts with papers on the magnitude of elementary phosphorus
resources and man’s demands for phosphate. There follow chapters on the
way in which both inorganic and organic chemists look at phosphorus reac-
tions in relation to biological systems and how phosphorus chemistry can be
used to affect life in ways not open to biology. The knowledge is then used as
a background for the examination of particular regional problems, usually of
plant cultivation when phosphate is often deficient. A later section analyses
the problems of excessive phosphate mainly due to sewage and detergents in
other regions. Only in the final sections of the book are the political aspects
touched upon, and then only in so far as they have already influenced events.
The general problems of the energy supply for the Western World have
been presented time and again and yet the political impact of this knowledge
is slight compared with that of the immediate economic and social difficulties.
The supply of energy is one of many similar world problems which should be
the subject of broad political discussion and action but which, as a result of
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