Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Bayou La Batre Utilities

Nitrate, a fertilizer chemical, frequently contaminates drinking water due to agricultural and urban runoff, and discharges from municipal wastewater treatment plants and septic tanks. Excessive nitrate in water can cause oxygen deprivation in infants and increase the risk of cancer. Click here to read more about nitrate.

 

13

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

3

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.113 ppm32ND - 0.180 ppm
20190.0800 ppm21ND - 0.160 ppm
2020ND20ND
20210.0230 ppm21ND - 0.0460 ppm
20220.0225 ppm21ND - 0.0450 ppm
20230.0210 ppm21ND - 0.0420 ppm

ppm = parts per million

State, National, and Health Guidelines for Drinking Water

EWG Health Guideline: 0.14 ppm

The EWG health guideline of 0.14 parts per million, or ppm, for nitrate and nitrite is based on the equivalent health guideline for nitrate, as defined in a peer-reviewed scientific study by EWG. This guideline represents a one-in-one-million annual cancer risk level.

EPA Maximum Contaminant
Level (MCL): 10 ppm

The legal limit for nitrate, established in 1962, was developed to protect infants from acute methemoglobinemia, a life-threatening disorder of oxygen transport in the body. This limit does not fully protect against the risk of cancer and harm to the developing fetus.

ppm = parts per million

All test results

Date Lab ID Result
2018-01-29180129041-10.180 ppm
2018-01-29180129041-20.160 ppm
2018-06-13180614041-1IND
2019-01-3019010725-0010.160 ppm
2019-11-2120131445001_IIOCND
2020-03-1620146807001_IIOCND
2020-03-1620146809001_IIOCND
2021-03-1020193059001_IIOCND
2021-03-1020193059002_IIOC0.0460 ppm
2022-05-2520244811002_IIOC0.0450 ppm
2022-05-2520244818001_IIOCND
2023-02-0720269190004_IIOCND
2023-02-0720269193003_IIOC0.0420 ppm