Environmental effects of copper
When copper ends up in soil it strongly attaches to organic matter and minerals. As a result it does not travel very far after release and it hardly ever enters groundwater. In surface water copper can travel great distances, either suspended on sludge particles or as free ions.
Copper does not break down in the environment and because of that it can accumulate in plants and animals when it is found in soils. On copper-rich soils only a limited number of plants has a chance of survival. That is why there is not much plant diversity near copper-disposing factories. Due to the effects upon plants copper is a serious threat to the productions of farmlands. Copper can seriously influence the proceedings of certain farmlands, depending upon the acidity of the soil and the presence of organic matter. Despite of this, copper-containing manures are still applied.
Copper can interrupt the activity in soils, as it negatively influences the activity of microorganisms and earthworms. The decomposition of organic matter may seriously slow down because of this.
When the soils of farmland are polluted with copper, animals will absorb concentrations that are damaging to their health. Mainly sheep suffer a great deal from copper poisoning, because the effects of copper are manifesting at fairly low concentrations.