My Department Head sent this to me and I thought some of you would find it
interesting. Last month I attempted to convince some state Extension faculty
that it was appropriate for my Breastfeeding Support Project to apply for
USDA Food Safety monies because promoting breastfeeding was a food safety
issue. Most were skeptical and the powers to be were sold on another
project. Wish they could have seen this.

                            [Image]
>  >           Nitrate in Drinking Water Threatens Infant Health
>  >  Tens of Thousands of Newborns Drink Water Contaminated with
Nitrate
>               at Levels above Federal Health Standards
>  >       Problem Affects Municipal Water Systems and Private Wells
>  >        More Contamination Seen if Congress Weakens Water Laws
>  > Washington D.C. -- Each year, tens of thousands of newborn babies
> are fed infant formula reconstituted with drinking water that is
> contaminated with potentially deadly levels of nitrate. The
> contamination, primarily the result of excessive use of farm
> fertilizer, pollutes drinking water supplies in 40 states, according
> to Pouring It On, a report released today by the Environmental
> Working Group (EWG), an environmental research group in Washington
> D.C.
>  > When present in drinking water at levels at or above federal health
> standards, nitrate poses an immediate risk of methemoglobinemia, the
> potentially deadly "blue baby syndrome". According to Dr. Burton
> Kross of the University of Iowa's Center for International Rural and
> Environmental Health, "A significant number of unexplained infant
> deaths in the United States are directly attributable to nitrate
> contamination of drinking water."
>  > In 1994, about 500,000 people drank tap water from systems that
> officially violated the nitrate maximum contaminant limit (MCL). In
> an average year, another half million people drink from systems that
> serve water contaminated at levels that repeatedly exceed the
> federal nitrate standard. These systems are not considered in
> violation of the nitrate standard if the water utility warns the
> public that the water is unfit for pregnant women and infants. As
> Pouring It On is being released, infants and pregnant mothers in two
> Illinois towns, Danville (pop. 38,000) and Georgetown (pop 3,670)
> have been provided with bottled water for the last three weeks due
> to nitrate contamination from excessive use of farm fertilizer.
>  > And the nitrate contamination problem is growing. More than 12
> million people drink water from systems where some part of the water
> supply tested above the nitrate standard in the past three years.
> Often these systems provide water that is contaminated at levels
> very close to the nitrate standard. "The public pays at least $200
> million per year to protect infants from nitrate pollution in
> drinking water, by digging new wells, blending contaminated water
> with cleaner water, or paying for expensive treatment facilities.
> The polluters, primarily farmers, pay nothing at all," said Brian
> Cohen, an analyst with EWG, and lead author of the report. "The good
> news is that farmers can solve the problem and actually save money
> by better fertilizer and manure management," Cohen added.
>  > An additional 3.8 million people drink from private wells that are
> contaminated with nitrate above the federal standards. These wells
> present unique problems because they often are not adequately
> monitored. In ten states, more than one private well in ten is
> contaminated with nitrate above federal health standards.
>  > Agriculture is responsible for 80 percent of nitrate pollution in
> the environment. "What makes this situation even more compelling is
> that nearly all of the actual cases, and much of the threat, of
> methemoglobinemia is preventable through better management of farm
> fertilizer and manure," said Richard Wiles, Vice President for
> Research at EWG. "But, there is no authority under any current or
> proposed federal law, including a recent Senate passed version of
> the Safe Drinking Water Act, that gives public health authorities
> the power to control this pollution at the source," Wiles said.
>  > The report also details weaknesses in the nitrate drinking water
> standard. The federal drinking water standard for nitrate has no
> margin of safety. Documented cases of blue baby syndrome have
> occurred after exposure to levels of nitrate in water less than the
> U.S. standard of 10 parts per million. In a 1992 near-fatal case of
> blue baby syndrome in Wisconsin, an infant who was initially
> misdiagnosed, was hospitalized with methemoglobinemia after being
> fed drinking water contaminated at levels just below the federal
> health standard. Germany, Denmark, and South Africa have a nitrate
> standard more than twice as protective as the U.S. standard.
>  >        Pouring It On: Nitrate Contamination of Drinking Water.
>  > Return to Environmental Working Group Home Page.

-Laura
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Laura Aldag, M.S.,R.D.
Assistant in Extension

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed its the only thing that has"   Margaret Mead