Animal waste and nitrogen fertilizers from farms contribute "more than eighty percent of ammonia pollution" (Dept. for Evrn, 2002). Too much ammonia in an ecosystem basically throws off the fine balance necessary for a healthy and diverse collection of flora. Ammonia usually attacks one type of plant species by overly spreading another.
There are other harms from the animal industry that travel through the waters. When testing streams surrounding these industries, eighty percent contained antibiotics and hormones in the water. The reason the livestock industry is thought to be at blame for this is because of their use of these products on their animals. It is not only injected to promote growth and fight disease but it is also present in the animals" feed. It is not known what the effects all of these contaminates will have on humans in the doses found in the water (part per billion) but "potential concerns from the presence of these compounds include reproductive impairment, increased incidences of cancer, the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and the increased toxicity of chemical .
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mixtures" (Warick, 2002). This water contamination is not limited to the livestock industry alone. Farms that raise vegetation also use chemicals. Pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and even hormones are all used in the production of fruits, vegetables, and grains. These chemicals leak into the soil, get into the water systems, and are consumed by humans. So, this issue is not purely based on one industry over the other. .
More than just an issue with resource use and pollution, the meat industry is also receiving a lot of heat for the ethical treatment of animals. Factory farms have a reputation of overpopulation for the space they provide. Criticism has also been placed on the methods of slaughter. There are governmental regulations for livestock farming but it is more lax in some states than others.