References & Sources

Plastic mulch’s dirty secrets

Soil erosion and pesticide runoff are dramatically higher in fields covered with sheets of plastic than in fields covered with a mulch of plant stubble.

References:

Hapeman, C. 1999. Vegetative mulch cuts pesticide losses in runoff. 218th American Chemical Society National Meeting. August 22–26. New Orleans.

Further Readings:

Raloff, J. 1997. When tomatoes see red. Science News 152(Dec. 13):376.

Sources:

Cathleen Hapeman
Agricultural Research Service
Environmental Chemistry Laboratory
10300 Baltimore Avenue
Building 007, Room 224
Beltsville, MD 20705

From Science News, Vol. 156, No. 13, September 25, 1999, p. 207. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.