Life cycle assessment has become an increasingly common approach for identifying, quantifying, and evaluating the total potential environmental impact of production processes or products, from the procurement of raw materials (the ‘cradle’), to production and utilization (the ‘gates’) and their final storage (the ‘grave’), as well as for determining ways to repair damage to the environment. The paper describes life cycle assessment of mineral fertilizers. On the basis of results provided by life cycle assessment, it can be concluded that an effective strategy for protecting the environment against the harmful effects of fertilizers is to attempt to ‘seal’ the nutrient cycle on a global, regional, and local scale. Pro-environ- mental measures aim on the one hand to reduce resource utilization, and on the other hand to limit losses of nutrients, during both production and use of fertilizers. An undoubted challenge for life cycle assessment when used in agricultural production is the need for relevance at each scale.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) and mineral nitrogen (N_min), especially nitrates (NO₃⁻) in agroecosystems have attracted much attention over the past few decades due to their crucial roles in soil fertility, crop productivity, environmental quality, and/or climate change mitigation and adaptation. The aim of the study was to evaluate the contents of organic carbon, ammonium, and nitrate in soils under differentiated pH, texture, and fertilization rates. A large-scale environmental study was conducted in Polish arable lands. The spatial distribution of the sampling points reflected agricultural production conditions, variability of soil properties, and representativeness of textures that are characteristic of Poland. Our results indicated that SOC content was significantly affected by the soil pH and texture as well as mineral and organic fertilization. The same factors, except organic amendments, significantly supported mineral nitrogen concentration in the present study. The most important factors controlling SOC in the study were ranked as follows: soil pH > pre-crop N fertilization > crop N fertilization > N applied with manure > soil texture. In the case of N-NH₄ and N-NO₃, mineral fertilization was the most critical variable. The carbon and nitrogen governance in agroecosystems should consider the ranks of factors controlling their contents.

Soil acidification in agroecosystems is a natural process that could be accelerated, mainly by the inappropriate application of mineral fertilizers, or prevented, by sustainable management practices. On the basis of a three-year field study in a grassland agroecosystem, the impact of different rates of fertilization with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) on soil chemical parameters related to soil acidity was evaluated. It was found that high-rate fertilization with ammonium nitrate accelerated the soil acidification process, which was additionally intensified by the application of superphosphate and potassium salt. The sum of exchangeable base cations, the values of base saturation and hydrolytic acidity in the soil reflected the interactions between the applied NPK-fertilizer levels. Considering chemical parameters related to soil acidity studied in this experiment, it seems that the best strategies for mitigating soil acidification in grasslands are reducing nitrate leaching, changing fertilizer types and increasing the input of base cations.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of three hemp cultivars to accumulate heavy metals under sewage sludge (SS) and phosphogypsum (PG) application. The field study was carried out from 2014 to 2016 on Luvisol (loamy sand) in Poland. The experiment scheme included five treatments—T0: the control without fertilization, T1: 170 kg N (nitrogen) ha⁻¹ from sewage sludge, T2: 170 kg N ha⁻¹ from sewage sludge and 100 kg ha⁻¹ of phosphogypsum, T3: 170 kg N ha⁻¹ from sewage sludge and 500 kg ha⁻¹ of phosphogypsum, and T4: 170 kg N ha⁻¹ from sewage sludge and 1000 kg ha⁻¹ of phosphogypsum. It was found that the application of municipal sewage sludge enriched the soil with the bioavailable forms of heavy metals to the greatest extent and contributed to the highest increase in their contents in vegetative and generative organs of hemp plants. These parameters showed a phosphogypsum dose-dependent decline, which could hinder the phytoextraction process. The greatest extractions of heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) from the soil treated with SS and PG were achieved by the Tygra variety, which had the highest bioconcentration factor (BCF) and biomass yield.