Environmental Council details Iowa’s nitrate risks
The nonprofit Iowa Environmental Council today released a white paper detailing nitrate pollution problems in Iowa and studies that have associated blue-baby syndrome, bladder cancer, birth defects and thyroid cancer with drinking high concentrations of nitrate.
Nitrate occurs naturally and also comes from farm and yard fertilizers, animal and human wastes, rotting plants, and other sources. Nitrate runoff is at the center of Des Moines Water Works’ federal lawsuit against drainage districts in three northwest Iowa counties in which the utility contends the districts should pay damages for the pollution and be subject to federal water quality permit requirements.
“Nitrate in Drinking Water: A Public Health Concern for All Iowans” reviews research conducted in Iowa and elsewhere.
“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, the council’s agricultural policy specialist, said in a statement.
Since the 1960s, elevated levels of nitrate in water used for baby formula have been known to cause blue-baby syndrome, a condition in which the blood loses its ability to carry oxygen. Studies have suggested the range of other risks as well, though in some cases they aren’t as well documented.
“Access to safe drinking water whether from Iowa’s public water supplies or private wells is an issue of health equity. This body of research helps to define what those relative risks are, so Iowans make informed decisions to address them,” said Jeaneane Moody, executive director of the Iowa Public Health Association, one of the health specialists who reviewed the report.
In the 1990s, Iowa was identified as a top sources of the nitrate and phosphorus pollution linked with the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area that is largely devoid of oxygen in the summer because of dying algae. Algae blooms are fed by the pollution, and oxygen is consumed as the algae decay.
Trending News
