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In between shepherding the United States through the Great Depression and bracing the country for war in Europe, then-President Franklin Roosevelt took a moment in 1938 to tell Congress about phosphorus.1 More specifically, he spoke about phosphates, the most commonly commercially exploited form of phosphorus.
Roosevelt's was not a scientific presentation but a cautious alert about the critical role this element plays in agricultural production. Private interests were exporting increasing amounts of the country's phosphates to markets abroad, he warned. Given the prospect that this vital constituent of fertilizer could come into short supply domestically, Roosevelt recommended framing a formal policy to deal with a strategic issue.
"The disposition of our phosphate deposits should be regarded as a national concern," he said. "The situation appears to offer an opportunity for this nation to exercise foresight in the use of a great national resource heretofore almost unknown in our plans for the developmenr of the nation."1
In spite of Roosevelt's call, no phosphate policy was forthcoming. More than seven decades on, the phrase "heretofore almost unknown" still echoes in many discussions about phosphorus. Meanwhile, the significance of phosphates is even more profound today than it was in the 1930s. Phosphate rock has emerged as a globally traded commodity linked to a diverse set of politically charged debates, ranging from environmenral degradation and threats to human health to food security and agricultural sovereignty.
"Life's Bottleneck"
Phosphorus, among the most common elements found in the Earth's crust,2 was dubbed "life's bottleneck" by science writer Isaac Asimov. "[Ljife can multiply until all the phosphorus is gone, and then there is an inexorable halt which nothing can prevent," he wrote. "We may be able to substitute nuclear power for coal, and plastics for wood, and yeast for meat, and friendliness for isolation - but for phosphorus there is neither substitute nor replacement."3
Alfalfa, Asimov noted, could thrive in soil made up of 0.1% phosphorus, while the plant's structure consisted of 0.7% phosphorus. This stoichiometric need for phosphorus makes the element not only a governing factor in plant growth but an irreplaceable one. No known input - natural or synthetic -can stand in for phosphorus.
Even though phosphorus was chemically identified only a few centuries ago, it has been employed...