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What are the Health Effects of Nitrate/Nitrite?

April 26, 2017health effects nitrate nitrite

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What are the Health Effects of Nitrate/Nitrite?

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Consumers can suffer acute (immediate) health effects from nitrates. Red blood cells carry oxygen to tissue cells and transport carbon dioxide away from the tissue cells. The red color is from the protein hemoglobin. Nitrate oxidizes iron in hemoglobin to create methemoglobin that lacks hemoglobin’s oxygen carrying capacity. This can cause a condition known as “blue-baby syndrome” which can be fatal.