Iowa's Drinking Water Suffers From Nitrate Contamination

High levels of nitrate have proven to be a problem in Iowa for decades now.

According to TakePart, the Iowa Environmental Council (IEC) found in a review of previous research that consumption of drinking water containing high levels of nitrate has been “linked to a number of human health effects.” These include birth defects relating to brain and spinal development as well as bladder and thyroid cancers.

“While more research is needed, the current findings offer compelling reasons to accelerate efforts to reduce pollution from nitrate flowing into our surface and groundwater from farm fields, urban yards, livestock facilities, water treatment plants, and other sources,” Ann Robinson, an agriculture policy specialist with IEC and lead author of the study, said in a statement.

The challenges associated with high levels of nitrate in drinking water have received more attention recently because of the Des Moines Water Works’ suit against three drainage districts in northwest Iowa, an area identified as a hotspot for nitrate pollution in the state and the country, according to an IEC white paper report.

It has been known for years by medical experts, according to TakePart, that excess nitrate consumption is very dangerous for babies. Babies who are given formula made with nitrate contaminated water could develop a condition when the contaminants “interfere with the body’s ability to circulate oxygen in the blood, turning the skin blue,” known as blue baby syndrome.

The U.S. EPA “sets the limit for nitrates in drinking water at 10 mpl, in order to prevent blue baby syndrome.” The review from the IEC, however, has raised new concerns over potential health risks from water containing nitrate that is below the federal standard.

Some research, according to the white paper report, “suggests that nitrate concentrations that are even lower than drinking water standard could be harmful when there is a long term chronic exposure.”

The report continued that while it is required of public water supplies to provide water that meets drinking water standards, private wells are not regularly tested on a regular basis and could contain concentrations of nitrate that exceeds the standards.

In Iowa, there are 11 public water supplies that include municipalities, rural water districts, churches, and residential care facilities that “exceeded federal safe drinking limits for nitrate or nitrite during 2015,” according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources annual drinking water compliance report.

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