A new study confirmed there is no safe level of nitrate found in drinking water for babies. Even the lowest level of the chemical, which is below the federal government’s safety threshold, could increase the risk of premature birth and low birth weight, the study reported.
While the leading cause of death in newborns and children five years old and under is premature and low birth weight, the study said the current level of nitrate that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deems safe fails to reflect birth outcomes and other potential health risks.
“The stakes are clear. No level of nitrate in drinking water appears safe during pregnancy,” Jason Semprini, assistant professor of public health economics at Des Moines University and lead author of the study, said. “For decades, we’ve known about the biological mechanisms suggesting potential harm from exposure to nitrates in utero. Now, we have consistent evidence from rigorous research across multiple studies showing this potential harm in live births.”
The report, which was published on June 25 in PLOS Water, analyzed more than 350,000 birth records in Iowa from 1970 to 1988 to find “that even 0.1 milligrams of nitrate per liter (mg/L)—a mere 1 percent of the level the EPA currently considers ‘safe’—was linked to higher risks of babies being born too early or too small, U.S. Right to Know reported. Nitrate enters drinking water from chemical fertilizer runoff and animal manure from farms and is invisible, odorless, and tasteless.
With many people unaware they are consuming the chemical, the study urges the EPA to update the federal nitrate limit to reflect current science and asks that individual states adopt stronger oversight over nitrate runoff and better reporting to protect the health of the people. An EPA assessment of the chemical remains stalled, but the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified nitrate in food and drinking water as “probably carcinogenic” because its been linked to colorectal cancer, thyroid disease and severe birth defects of the brain and spinal cord, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Some key findings from the study as reported by U.S. Right to Know include:
- Exposure to more than 0.1 mg/L of nitrate was linked to a 0.66 percentage point increase in preterm birth risk—a 9 percent rise compared to the average.
- Exposure to more than 5 mg/L was associated with a 0.33 percentage point increase in the risk of low birth weight (under 5.8 pounds, or 2,500 grams).
- Pregnancies exposed to low nitrate levels were also slightly shorter—by about 0.25 to 0.5 days on average.
“This isn’t just about environmental regulations—it’s about the health of babies and mothers,” Semprini said. “If we don’t update our standards to match current science, we could be silently harming thousands of pregnancies every year.”
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