Why Fertilizer Is Dangerous

PreSCIENCE (LIVE SCIENCE, www.LiveScience.com Fertilizer Plants in America Nitrogen, one of three common additives to agricultural fertilizer, is often in the form of ammonium nitrate, a potentially explosive chemical compound. Thirty-four production plants across America produce nitrogen fertilizer. Operational Nitrogen Fertilizer Production Facilities WA O ND MN OR SD ID WI ME WY VT NE IA NY MA NV UT CO IL PA IN OH KS MO MP KY VA O OK TN NC NM AR SC 8. AL West LA GA TX The facility in West, Texas that exploded on April 17, 2013, was a retail facility, not a production facility. There are around 6,000 retail facilities around the country that sell fertilizer directly to farmers. Nitrogen Fertilizer Use in Selected Countries 5.0 4.7 4.5 4.0 Used for feed and pastures, in millions of tons per year 3.5 3.0 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 (CREDIT: WIKIPEDIA) Ammonium nitrate can explode under conditions of heat or shock. The chemical 0.0 0.1 U.S. China was a component of the bomb used by Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995. UK France Canada Мexico Turkey SOURCES: THE FERTILIZER INSTITUTE, WASHINGTONPOST.COM, EPA, UNITED NATIONS KARL TATE / © LiveScience.com Germany Brazil Spain Argentina PreSCIENCE (LIVE SCIENCE, www.LiveScience.com Fertilizer Plants in America Nitrogen, one of three common additives to agricultural fertilizer, is often in the form of ammonium nitrate, a potentially explosive chemical compound. Thirty-four production plants across America produce nitrogen fertilizer. Operational Nitrogen Fertilizer Production Facilities WA O ND MN OR SD ID WI ME WY VT NE IA NY MA NV UT CO IL PA IN OH KS MO MP KY VA O OK TN NC NM AR SC 8. AL West LA GA TX The facility in West, Texas that exploded on April 17, 2013, was a retail facility, not a production facility. There are around 6,000 retail facilities around the country that sell fertilizer directly to farmers. Nitrogen Fertilizer Use in Selected Countries 5.0 4.7 4.5 4.0 Used for feed and pastures, in millions of tons per year 3.5 3.0 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 (CREDIT: WIKIPEDIA) Ammonium nitrate can explode under conditions of heat or shock. The chemical 0.0 0.1 U.S. China was a component of the bomb used by Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995. UK France Canada Мexico Turkey SOURCES: THE FERTILIZER INSTITUTE, WASHINGTONPOST.COM, EPA, UNITED NATIONS KARL TATE / © LiveScience.com Germany Brazil Spain Argentina