Why is nitrate in ground water a concern?
Ground water wells supply a large portion of the drinking water for Clark County residents. High levels of nitrate in drinking water are associated with adverse health effects. How can nitrate affect my health or my child’s health? People may be exposed to nitrate in both food and water. In healthy adults and older children, ingested nitrate is excreted rapidly in the urine. Exposure to fairly large amounts of nitrate is not usually associated with short-term adverse effects. Infants younger than 6 months of age, however, are sensitive to nitrate poisoning, which may result in serious illness or death. The illness occurs when nitrate is converted to nitrite in a child’s body. Nitrite reduces oxygen in the child’s blood, causing shortness of breath and blueness of the skin, hence the name “blue baby syndrome.” The technical term for this condition is methemoglobinemia. This illness can cause a child’s health to deteriorate rapidly over a period of days. Long-term: Nitrates and nitrites
