How do Nitrates get into your water?
ZeroWater has dedicated a news article which addressed this contaminant before. You can find it here on our news site: Nitrates in Your Water supply, the Health Risks – How can You Protect Yourself?
Nitrate (NO3) is a compound or a molecule that is made of one atom of nitrogen and three atoms of oxygen. Sometimes high amounts of nitrate get into our local drinking water.
Typical sources of nitrate include:
- fertilisers
- animal wastes, particularly in areas of intensified farming
- un-reticulated sewage disposal systems
- industrial and food processing waste
Nitrate is highly soluble in water and therefore is can easily be transported through our soils and into the groundwater.
The Health Implications of Nitrates
High levels of Nitrate can become a health risk to babies which are less than six months old. If they are formula fed or the unborn foetus of pregnant woman.
Adults with very specific and rare metabolic disorders can be found to be at higher risks.
Nitrate is converted into Nitrite by bacteria in the gut. This Nitrite can combines with foetal haemoglobin in the foetus or in infants which are less than 6 months old.
This would prevent Oxygen from binding and being reduce the distribution distributed around the body of the infant or foetus.
Typical symptoms include blueness around the mouth, hands and feet. This is where the common name or ‘blue baby’ syndrome comes from. In more severe cases it can affect breathing and be even life-threatening.
If the infant is fully breastfed they cannot be affected as Nitrites cannot enter the breast-milk. Very few cases of ‘blue baby’ syndrome have been reported in Britain. Though Nitrates in groundwater have been rising in the last twenty years due to mostly a growing world population and the more intensive farming methods.
Council water supplies in Britain have all mostly safe nitrate levels.
Many rural drinking water bores in Britain are at risk of elevated Nitrate levels. Some private bores exceeding the recommended safe level of nitrates.
We recommend to check with your local council for more information.
Get your bore water tested for Nitrates
The drinking water consumed by pregnant women,or formula fed babies under 6 months coming from a private bore in a medium to high risk area should be tested for Nitrates.
